Report finds migrants, mainly Venezuelans, have fewer funds, few work prospects and are preyed on by criminal gangs on journey back
More than 14,000 people, mainly Venezuelans, who hoped to reach the US have reversed course and turned south since the start of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, according to a report by the governments of Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica.
The phenomenon, known as “reverse flow” migration, is largely made up of Venezuelans who fled the country’s long-running economic, social and political crises only to encounter US immigration policy no longer open to asylum seekers.
Migration through the treacherous Darién Gap on the border of Colombia and Panama peaked in 2023 when more than half a million people crossed. It slowed somewhat in 2024, but ceased almost completely early this year.
The report, published on Friday with the support of the UN high commissioner for human rights, said that northward migration had dropped 97% this year.
