- The first flight from us, illegal transport migrants reach the scope in Panama.
- Soon two more flights to land in the Central American country.
- Mulino says that we will send Panama to 360 people on three flights.
Panama City: United States deported 119 people from different nationalities to Panama as part of an agreement between the administration of US President Donald Trump and the Central American nation, said the president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino on Thursday.
The first flight from the United States, transporting people from Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, arrived on Wednesday and two more will land soon, Mulino said at a press conference. In total, the United States will send 360 people to Panama to the three flights.
Before being returned to their respective countries, those deported will be transferred to a shelter near Darien, the jungle that separates Central America from South America, which innumerable migrants cross in an attempt to reach the United States.
“Through a cooperation program with the United States government … Yesterday (Wednesday) came a flight from the United States Air Force with 119 people from the most diverse nationalities in the world,” Mulino said.
The United States National Security Department did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Earlier this month, after conversations with the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, Mulino emphasized that sovereignty about the Panama Canal is not in debate. However, he described the possibility of repatriating more migrants.
Mulino at that meeting also announced that a memorandum of understanding signed in July with the Department of National Security of the United States could expand so that Venezuelans, Colombians and Ecuadorians can return from Darien's dangerous gap to US cost, through a track landing in Panama.
The Deputy Minister of Security of Panama, Luis Icaza, said that thanks to the bilateral collaboration between Panama and the United States, the flow of migrants that crosses the Darien was reduced by 90% in January, compared to the same month of the previous year .
