CBS Reports | Darien Gap: Desperate Journey to America

so I'm going to draw the border here, you know, and this is Colombia and this is Panama, so we're basically going to follow the river up and then I'll tell you where to tell the real river Mort, that doesn't sound right, yeah. where we reached this place at the end of the first day, okay, what we can't expect to see here is just jungle, tomorrow we have been in a thick jungle, sure, hop shahbazi is 8,000 miles from home, he came to the safe house here in Colombia then spent time in Venezuela, where he picked up a Spanish Honda for a morning marathon.

Shahab will embark on a

journey

following in the footsteps of many thousands before him. Why are you crossing the Darien Gap? Do you know how dangerous the Darien Gap is? but I already achieved it, the goal is for them to leave. I need life with more life. This is just another routine trip for the smugglers guiding Shahab. For a few hundred dollars they guide immigrants who would trust them through this notoriously difficult no man's land. Immigrants can get here. With relative ease due to the lack of immigration policies in certain South American countries, they cross illegally from the south into Central America through the Darien Gap and then into the United States.

Other options, such as taking a boat or plane, increase the risk of capture and immediate deportation for those who want to reach the United States. First they have to survive in the jungle. We have to stay close to the rivers. There are guides to get to the other side. At least one. Week long hike if nothing goes wrong we head west towards mountainous terrain through thick tropical forests my dangerous well can you talk about the money you are from Culebra? I'm not a tigress. It's okay, you will die a lot. No sir. Oh no. I'm fine.

Another danger here is the violent paramilitary groups that control the drug smuggling corridor that runs parallel to the migrants' roots deep in the jungle. Over the years we had heard rumors of countless lives lost in the Darien canopy. In the jungle that's how hot these fields are, we're told these heavy, uncomfortable boots will protect our legs from poisonous snakes and water, but it's impossible to keep our feet dry, we're only a few miles away and our wet feet are blistering. every step hurts like so many other immigrants who arrive at the Darien Gap he has a pair of sneakers a pair of clothes all the possessions he has at this moment in his small canvas bag he is so ill prepared for this that I wrote the newspaper wrote and first I will go Let's see the cover of Mavis Eldorado together, you know, come in whenever you want when you get to the US.

If you get to the United States I work professionally s carpet arrow telework away one thing is a pintero circle see I don't like it in case we like it We always come to the USA dear friends in this my dear friend no my girlfriend Vanessa do you want to see her here no no here no show we sequence in the other telescope we are Arabs again no way no yes miyamura said Heart I think well I always miss how much he thinks that where reinforcement comes a coma for Deborah not with them as we pack up camp our guides warn of a steep climb ahead of us we are overwhelmed by our safety equipment and food at this point every ounce matters this is a luxury we cannot afford luxury to carry with us we will only have to trust the river what country is India?

This is a group of migrants who encounter others more and more frequently. This is a main passage that migrants cross at the beginning of the walk, so you take a plane from India to Colombia. This group is a group of approximately eight people from Sri Lanka and India six thousand miles away. far away and have come here specifically because they want to enter the US Nepali Dominican lie India see Africa also see spend a moment like millet of me present me Paulo copies geology the is a Jew and an apostle meaning of the sorry percent the stage more hard of the trip is about to begin a thousand foot ascent in the very short amount of time with about 50 pounds of gear on my back, yeah, you know, at some point you can't help but feel complete, here we are carrying our gear high tech, these guys have their whole lives on their backs, go get it.

Get it. I have just sent myself to the top of the mountain that is essentially the demarcation line between Panama and Colombia. What do you want to do in Fresno? Funny relatives, do they know you're coming? The trips are not over yet, but this is a moment of triumph in euphoria of any of these guys four days there walking is a black on this side on this side and on this side there is no proper blocking and there is no shoulder it is pain we are trying to learn more about the lives of immigrants I would push them out here but almost as an element of survival they all shut down maybe too exhausted or too scared to share their stories they are on a mission to survive in the jungle nothing else seems to matter well Doretta Julia wanted to say, asked why they come out from territorial and surprising forget to put the Rhetor you don't make a Europe or even Revere points because September Iandale Ambree is worth not in an economy Antonio of one thing that follows follows this way Corn potato already video tell us about Some of the things that make their gap so dangerous for migrants, aside from the untamed nature, are the places where it rains in the world and basically stops everyone.

Wow, as scary and scary as Mother Nature can be, she is absolutely amazing, it becomes difficult to distinguish between hours and soon even. the days merge together is an agonizingly repetitive cycle of eating, walking, crossing rivers, setting up camp, stopping only when it is too hot to walk, so it is difficult, but compare God to the same number of the Way of Spadina desta. I've seen you fight every day and we. I still have a long way to go is a serial killer or develop a Naposki is for Sal Wanda my life the con singular for such a mistake is fun Look what paper tray I will sit in clothes a meteorite aunt turns out we all need three, this is another stopping point on the trip, the amount of garbage here is absolutely incredible, food cans, tuna cans, sardine cans, energy drinks, water bottles, clothes, the hardest thing is to see the children's clothes, already that people get more and more tired with every ounce of clothing they wear. their backs weigh them down and people start taking off their clothes here and you can see the desperation in the

journey

just by looking at the trail left behind a rose a rose theme oh no darling, moon anyway on a special menu the mutia persona They think that the day reached a low point but if I for me I think that a person Baba Calgon cannot incredible to pay five dollars twenty And Miyata part I have no work for me to bein for a lot impossible ever Diego CA and Caillou tank is a metallo, you will be my reowww reowww as they do not know what I do then a kilo in the element of Tracy' a need pumping after praying so I I KCM pruna person over a kid needs someone who is yellow but who what comes the only blurry thing look yes, a servant is in this plane you know what to be Corydon parami Rodya avoiding different a mantra where are you going are you if the

darien

gap only one man and where you have many bytes so much, could you?, it's good split, split, no food, no medicine, only water, the world knows about that end, you're still smiling, how are you still smiling?

So why do you keep smiling? You look happy, happy, happy, you barked pretty, this is crazy, the law, but oh well. Okay, okay, look how far I go, look at my truck, one of the questions I've asked everyone is why are you doing this? It seems crazy who the hell and everyone has told me: you know what this is and you have yourself. you have a house you have a country you have money Excel belongings I am lucky not to be able to step on mine Bianca stolen I guess what makes me can't handle all the things that happen to me but when it's a year in Taniya apart from him in the inoperable sepatha mo Vietnam finally after a week together Shahab talks about his reasons for leaving Iran and claims that his problem started after converting from Islam to Christianity and that he was arrested in a church and tortured in prison as a conduct, I will go where they told me all the time, I have a very, very problem, but we are ready to leave the camp and we saw another group of immigrants, this is the big one, probably about 20, right? everyone joins together where do you want to go? where are you from?

Whether or not you wish you had come, where do you want to go? You want to go to America, this gentleman has had, like so many others, a heartbreaking experience. The trip that began in South Sudan traveled through Uganda, Rwanda, then he arrived in Brazil and flew to Peru, he arrived in Ecuador, where he says he was assaulted and They stole it, it arrived in Colombia and now it is here, in the Darién Gap, two months later. They are willing to take this long, long, safe roof, it gives you a sense of the drive, determination and desperation that people face when trying to get to a better place, suddenly they feel less burdened by their suitcases and their fears.

Immigrants are energized, empowered by their numbers, they are eager to overcome one last obstacle. This is probably the best shampoo. In the morning we wait with Shahab for another guide. We've almost reached the first outpost of civilization. I'm going to polish I don't know what's going on what are you going to say to the race I don't have a life I don't have security I need a new life so we finally get to a point where the rivers are navigable so the last leg of The Journey Out of the Darienne involves getting on to a boat heading to the first small town where immigration awaits.

So what's your plan? Somehow he accepts you. Do you think God helped you get through this? Yes, he called me. I hope to hear from you at your new restaurant and I will come to eat at your restaurant. Yes, seen a few months ago. Yeah.