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RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 000873 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/10 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PM SO SMIG PREF
SUBJECT: ILLEGAL AFRICAN MIGRATION POSES CHALLENGE TO PANAMA 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Stephenson, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
 
Summary 
 
¶1. (U) The number of illegal African migrants smuggled through 
Panama has grown six-fold in 2009.  Somali and other Horn of Africa 
migrants are a particular concern for Panama, which has shown no 
inclination to accept them as refugees, yet is struggling to find a 
humane response to the increase.  Concern about the issue has led 
to discussions across the region, but to date, the unofficial 
policy of the GOP is simply to deny asylum requests and not accept 
economic migrants from Africa.  As most migrants apprehended in 
Panama appear to have been headed for the United States, the issue 
has implications for the effort to secure our extended borders. 
End Summary. 
 
No Easy Answers 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) Reflecting an emerging Latin American trend, illegal 
migration by Africans though Panama has mushroomed. In 2009, 
authorities apprehended 96 illegal migrants of African origin, up 
from 14 in 2008. Smugglers employ the same methods used in 
transporting narcotics from Colombia, moving people into Panama in 
small boats which hug the isolated shorelines of Darien province. 
Throughout the year, small groups of migrants, ranging in size from 
11 to 28, have been abandoned on Panama's coastlines by smugglers. 
In one instance a group was deposited on the beach and told that 
they were in Canada.  The migrants pay somewhere between $3000 and 
$10,000 to be smuggled to Latin America and onward to the United 
States. According to the director of the National Office of 
Refugees (ONPAR), the migrants' odyssey takes them through Brazil, 
Ecuador and Colombia as they progress northward. 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) 70 of the 96 African migrants apprehended in 2009 are 
Somalis, raising consternation in Panama about this particular 
group. The anxiety may be tangentially based on the ongoing piracy 
off the Somali coast which has at times affected Panamanian flagged 
ships (note: Panama is home to the world's largest ship registry). 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) Partly due to its proximity to Colombia and the ongoing 
insurgency there, Panamanian society is not welcoming to refugees 
and migration in general. The government and press have been 
largely unwilling to blur the distinction between economic migrants 
and refugees, as was shown by the decision by the National Office 
of Refugees in September to deny asylum to 89 migrants, including 
61 from the Horn of Africa. In the same month, the Supreme Court 
ruled that the continuing detention of 67 migrants, including a 
large percentage of Somalis, was legal. Both decisions attracted 
little to no criticism in the Panamanian press. 
 
 
 
You Can't Go Home Again 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) All 89 persons denied asylum in September remain in 
detention in Panama. The director of the National Migration 
Service, Maria Christina Gonzalez, told embassy officers in 
December that Colombia would not accept the return of African 
migrants that had crossed into Panama, characterizing the Colombian 
response as "evasive". Complicating matters is the impossibility of 
returning the migrants to Somalia, which is without a functioning 
government able to accept them. Gonzalez said that efforts were 
underway to settle the migrants in a third country. Growing concern 
about the possibility of increased migration across the region led 
to high-level discussions of the issue, including one between 
Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Varela, his Costa Rican counterpart 
Bruno Stagno, and Colombian Ambassador to Panama Gina Bendetti in 
late October.  Gonzalez told PolOff that there is a meeting 
involving representatives from Brazil, Colombia, Panama and Costa 
Rica scheduled for January 2010 to address the issue. To date, 
however, Gonzalez said Panama's only policy is to deny refugee 
status in the hopes that this will discourage further migration to 
and through Panama. 
 
 
 
Heading North? 
 
 
 
¶6. (C) Comment.  African migration to Latin America is a complex 
phenomenon that is in a state of flux.  Many migrants appear 
willing to settle in Brazil, Argentina, or other countries willing 
to accommodate them.  However, the surge of Somali immigrants as 
far north as Panama and Costa Rica may signal both a new source and 
a new route for attempted illegal entry into the U.S.  In the 
context of the emerging global economy, as Panama transitions from 
developing to developed nation and seeks to improve its democratic 
governance it will likely face further challenges from African 
migration. 
STEPHENSON