Panama to start deporting migrants from Darien Gap within months

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) -Panama's government expects to start deportation flights for migrants who crossed the country's dangerous Darien jungle in two to three months, the country's chief of migration Roger Mojica said Friday.

The flights will be paid by the United States under a recent agreement that the two countries closed earlier this month.

"We are establishing the needs, equipment and requirements that Panama has to face in order to start the program, and we are in conversations with the United States," Mojica said during a conference call. "We estimate we should be able to start the process in two to three months."

Panama's new president, Jose Raul Mulino, has vowed to curb unlawful immigration and has started to work closely with the U.S. to control passage through the jungle that links Central America to Colombia.

Panama's Darien Gap, a jungle which bridges Central America with the South American continent, saw a record half a million migrants cross last year seeking security and better economic opportunities abroad.

Panamanian authorities estimate some 213,702 thousand crossed the Darien so far this year, many of them children.

The topic of migration has gained traction ahead of elections in the U.S., a key destination for many migrants, with Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump vowing stronger borders and mass deportations.

(Reporting by Elida Moreno; Writing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by Sarah Morland)