Regional Court Orders Panama to Protect Migrants’ Health

Regional Court Orders Panama to Protect Migrants’ Health
A Panama border police officer points as he begins to patrol in the Darien Province, on the border with Colombia, in Yaviza, Panama on Jun. 19, 2018. Arnulfo Franco/AP Photo
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PANAMA CITY—A regional human rights court has ordered Panama’s government to immediately provide medical care and more sanitary conditions for some 2,000 migrants detained near the Colombian border.

Prior to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Panama had practiced what it called a “controlled flow,” which allowed migrants emerging from the dangerous Darien jungle to rest at camps before boarding buses and continuing their journey up through Central America.