12 March 2023 – During February and March 2023, the STARSOM project continued its efforts to foster cooperation between countries along the same migrant smuggling routes by organizing two operational meetings between Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama, as well as between the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
In Central America, the tragic incident of February 2023 in which at least 39 migrants perished in a bus accident on Panama's northern border with Costa Rica demonstrated once again the serious threats to safety and life posed by the criminal activity of the smugglers along this route.
On 8-9 March 2023, specialized prosecutors, law enforcement officers and delegates from border control entities from Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica gathered in Panama City with UNODC’s support and discussed recent changes in smuggling flows.
They identified a new route to bypass the dangers of the Darien jungle and the land crossing between Panama and Costa Rica, using the island of San Andres in the Caribbean, Colombian territory, to reach Nicaragua directly by sea.
Migrants using this route pay smugglers between US$1,500 and US$5,000, a higher amount than they charge for crossing the Darien Gap, and the time to reach the island is reduced to only 3 hours using high-speed boats.
Participants discussed options for cooperation in two specific cases between Costa Rica and Panama, and Panama and Colombia and highlighted the need to develop communication channels with Nicaraguan authorities as a priority in the fight against migrant smuggling in the region.
In Colombo, on 13-15 February 2023, STARSOM facilitated a second meeting between the Maldives and Sri Lanka, in response to the need to increase formal and informational cooperation mechanisms against migrant smuggling between the two countries. The meeting discussed the types of agreements and arrangements to enhance such cooperation, bringing together 10 law enforcement and prosecution experts from both countries, including Interpol NCB focal points, as well as a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Liaison Officer based in Colombo and UNODC staff.
Participants highlighted the modus operandi of migrant smugglers in South Asia to exploit gaps in border control systems and immigration regulations, such as the use of fraudulent documents and the exchange of boarding passes at airports, as well as the abuse of the asylum system and migrant protection measures.
UNODC experts presented a model for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at providing a framework for formal cooperation and information exchange. Discussions focused on the modalities of implementation of such an agreement and especially its provisions on data protection, human rights dimensions, and information exchange standards. The Maldivian delegation informed that the Immigration Departments of both countries have recently signed an MoU specifically framing immigration-related cooperation as an example of good practices.
The final part of the bilateral meeting was dedicated to a practical session/field activity at Bandaranaike International Airport, facilitated by the Border Surveillance Team of the Sri Lanka Immigration and Emigration Department. This visit allowed participants to immerse themselves in the practical aspects of detecting migrant smuggling related activities at the airport, appreciate the operational situation at the border and enhance their understanding of the type of evidential material they can obtain as part of their investigations and the importance of the inter-agency cooperation for successful anti-smuggling efforts.
