Serene
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CNN —
Panama on Tuesday carried out its first migrant deportation flight funded by the United States, part of a widening effort to reduce the number of migrants traveling north through the region.
Twenty-nine Colombians were deported from Panama City to Medellín, Colombia, according to Panama’s Deputy Security Minister Luis Felipe Icaza.
The deportees boarded the plane early in the morning with cuffs around their hands and ankles, escorted by authorities from Panama’s migration agency. The agency’s chief Roger Mojica said many of those on board had criminal records in Colombia. One of them was a member of the Clan del Golfo criminal organization, Icaza alleged.
The deportation flight was carried out after the US and Panama signed a memorandum of cooperation on July 1 to reduce the number of migrants crossing Panama without permission, on their way to the US.
Panama on Tuesday carried out its first migrant deportation flight funded by the United States, part of a widening effort to reduce the number of migrants traveling north through the region.
Twenty-nine Colombians were deported from Panama City to Medellín, Colombia, according to Panama’s Deputy Security Minister Luis Felipe Icaza.
The deportees boarded the plane early in the morning with cuffs around their hands and ankles, escorted by authorities from Panama’s migration agency. The agency’s chief Roger Mojica said many of those on board had criminal records in Colombia. One of them was a member of the Clan del Golfo criminal organization, Icaza alleged.
The deportation flight was carried out after the US and Panama signed a memorandum of cooperation on July 1 to reduce the number of migrants crossing Panama without permission, on their way to the US.
