WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th October, 2021) Up to 20,000 Haitian migrants in northern Colombia are expected to head north and more migrants continue to arrive daily to make the same trip, the United Nations Refugee Agency's (UNHCR) regional spokesperson for Central America and Mexico Sibylla Brodzinsky told Sputnik.
"There are still large groups of Haitians in northern Colombia in Necocli and basically waiting for transportation to then be able to cross the Darien Gap into Panama and then sort of continue their journey northward," Brodzinsky said on Tuesday. "There are still fairly large groups whose intentions appear to be to head north. The number of Haitians, for example in Necocli, poses a huge humanitarian challenge. We're talking somewhere between 18,000 and 20,000 people and more people arriving almost daily."
Brodzinsky said the UN Refugee Agency is also concerned about the vast number of Haitian migrants applying for asylum in Mexico, which is putting a substantial strain on Mexico's asylum system.
"We're supporting the Mexican refugee agency COMAR to be able to handle this increase of numbers," Brodzinsky said. "There are obviously people who do need international protection but for those who do not necessarily, we're calling for alternative migration pathways."
Some 15,000 migrants, mostly from Haiti, arrived in Del Rio, Texas, in September, prompting Texas to declare a state of emergency and deploy additional state police officers and National Guard troops to stem the surge.
US media reported, citing DHS officials, said the US has conducted flights to Haiti to transport about 5,500 individuals who tried to cross the southern border of the United States. The US Special Envoy for Haiti Daniel Foote resigned from his post in protest, claiming the deportations were inhumane.
On Thursday, the UNHCR said in a press release that a group of United Nations agencies is calling on countries to refrain from deporting Haitian migrants in groups without properly assessing their protective needs.
The UNHCR said the situation is expected to worsen as a result of the earthquake that struck Haiti on August 14, which strains any capacity to receive returning Haitians.
Haiti suffered a devastating earthquake in August in which more than 2,000 people died in addition to suffering poverty, rampant gang violence and a political crisis following the assassination of previous President Jovenel Moise in July.
