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Fronteras de Paz y Bien/Borders of Peace and Good

Darien is Panama's largest and least-developed province. Its southern border with Columbia is the location of the Darien Gap, a 60-mile-deep jungle, one of the most dangerous in the world. Darien is a transit location for refugees and migrants from across the globe, with the majority from Venezuela, Ecuador, and Haiti. Over 1,100,000 migrants crossed this area between 2021 and 2024.

Migrants transiting the jungle emerge in the small village of Bajo Chiquito and encounter long lines to process them into government reception camps, where they are then asked to pay to board buses that will take them through Panama to Costa Rica. Quixote Center has visited this area twice, with our Franciscan Network for Migration (RFM) partners.

The reception areas are chaotic and the migrants are traumatized. Many have lost everything, including family members, in the jungle. The survivors regroup at Bajo Chiquito.

In the face of this human tragedy, RFM Panama's response is the Fronteras de Paz y Bien movement. They are planning a permanent presence of accompaniment and observation at Bajo Chiquito, creating a space where migrants can find spiritual help, information, and kindness. The volunteers will also defend the human rights of migrants in Panama, by observing government operations, learning from the experience of migrants, and advocating for Fronteras de Paz y Bien with their own government. They expect to initiate their presence in early 2025.

Quixote Center is supporting this effort, initially through helping to arrange and cover the cost for the training of Los Caminantes, the name the volunteers will go by. We have enlisted a team of experts in peacebuilding from Colombia to facilitate the training. It will be a "train-the trainers" experience for about 15 Caminantes in non-violence and human rights observation. The training will create a volunteer corps that is professional and safe.

We are seeking to raise $7000 to cover the costs of the trainer and travel expenses. Fronteras de Paz y Bien is a creative, visionary initiative to uphold the dignity and protect the humanity of migrants in the face of worldwide fear and hate. It will empower Panamanians to advocate with their own government for humane policies, to counter the influence that United States policy has on how Panama treats migrants.

Thank you for your support.

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