(Bloomberg) -- Colombia and Panama will seek to build a single, organized route through the jungle that hundreds of thousands of migrants cross as they attempt to reach the US, according to Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
The two nations want this to be “legal and controlled by both governments,” Petro told reporters in New York after a meeting with Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
“We want to open a route that is calm, efficient and controlled by the authorities of both countries,” Petro said.
This would replace the current situation where several paths controlled by organized crime cross the jungle known as the Darien Gap, Petro said.
More than half a million people traveled through the Darien last year, according to Panama’s migration authority. The migrants came from as far away as Nepal, Afghanistan and the Congo, although more than 60% were Venezuelans.
The numbers have fallen since Mulino took office in July trying to control the flow of people.
Most of the people taking the route plan to cross Central America and Mexico to get to the US southern border. Immigration is among the top concerns for voters in this year’s election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
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