‘It’s a long walk’: Haitian migrants’ traumatic journey to Panama

When Moise Cliff Raymond arrives at the Turquesa River, he plunges in to wash off the filth from trekking five days through the perilous Darien Gap jungle in order to cross the Colombian border into Panama. The Haitian and his companions, who have just arrived at Bajo Chiquito – the first community on the Panama side – are covered in mud after the previous night’s heavy rain. “The journey was very hard because it’s a long walk,” said the 29-year-old. “There are many dead, people who didn’t make it this far.”