Luxembourg, together with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and Cisco Crisis Response, embarked in May on a two-week mission to the Darien province of Panama. Our teams successfully installed critical internet connectivity in remote villages, providing essential support for humanitarian workers and affected communities.

Darien, Panama’s largest and poorest province, borders Colombia and hosts a 100 km jungle, the only break in the Pan-American highway. Despite its reputation as one of the most dangerous jungles in the world, Darien has become a vital transit point for hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants from Venezuela, Ecuador, Haiti, Colombia, China, and beyond.

In the face of an unprecedented mixed movement crisis, with over 520,000 people entering Panama irregularly through Darien in 2023 alone, this connectivity is crucial. It enhances the capabilities of humanitarian workers to provide aid and support to the most vulnerable.