Panama City, 19 April 2022 (TDI): Panama convenes a two-day high-level dialogue today to address the challenge of irregular migration within the Western Hemisphere.

Representatives from 20 countries from North, Central, South America, and the Caribbean will attend the meeting. These countries support Panama’s regional leadership in the regional governance of growing migration. They will discuss continental strategies to deal with migration.

Moreover, the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and Canadian Parliamentary Secretary, Maninder Sidhu, will represent their respective countries.

Panama is convening the high-level ministerial meeting today with the collaboration of the United States. Meanwhile, the Bolívar Palace, the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry of Panama, will host the meeting along with a Panama City hotel.

The representatives of the attending countries have recognized that most migrants are lured under the false promise of entry into the country of destination.

The promised land is mostly the United States, Canada, and Mexico, in that order. Moreover, criminal groups with an international network lead such illegal trafficking operations.

Furthermore, the Ministerial Meeting on Migration in Panama is one of the most important post-pandemic events in the region. Previously, Panama held the first ministerial meeting on migration in August 2021.

It organized that meeting virtually and representatives of ten governments attended it. In addition, Panamanian Foreign Minister, Erika Mouynes stated “We have the opportunity to establish new effective collaboration mechanisms for specific issues.

We are starting with the comprehensive and holistic management of irregular migration.” “Gathered in Panama, Ministers from all over the continent can achieve historic achievements,” she proclaimed.

Illegal Migration in the Americas

Illegal Migration from Central America and the Caribbean mainly to the United States continues to be a regional challenge.

People from countries such as Honduras and Haiti attempt to escape violence, political instability, economic backwardness, and poverty through migration.