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‘Out of Christian charity,’ priests bury migrants who died in Darien jungle

Michie

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There is no exact figure on how many people die trying to cross the Darien Gap, but those whose bodies are recovered can receive a decent burial thanks to the work of the priests of the Apostolic Vicariate of Darién in Panama and the nuns of the community of the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians.

The inhospitable Darién jungle, shared by Panama and Colombia, has for years become an unavoidable route for hundreds of thousands of migrants who want to reach the United States. According to figures from the Colombian People’s Ombudsman Office, in 2023 the gap was crossed by more than 520,000 people, of which 406,905 were adults and 113,180 were minors.

The region is a 65-mile gap in the Pan-American Highway due to the great difficulties in building the road through there and environmental concerns.

However, not everyone is so fortunate to make it through and people die along the way, whether by drowning, infections, or because they take their own lives after losing hope. The cause of death is often unknown because bodies are found with a high degree of decomposition.

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