DATELINE.

 

The World’s Most Dangerous Journey?

 

Part 1.

 

REPORTER: Jason Motlagh

 

 

This wild and shadowy jungle is a keeper of secrets. The Darien Gap is home to rare species and Indigenous villagers. It also hides people smugglers and drug runners and the discarded bodies of those they have murdered. Many who enter do not come out, but for people who dream of living in the United States, it's still a risk worth running.

 

Throughout my career, I have reported from dangerous places, but the story of the Darien Gap has been on my mind for as long as I can remember. It's a black zone to the extreme. If something goes wrong, you're on your own. I've been prepping for this story for more than nine months.

 

Waterproof matches. All-purpose knife. Eating tool. Anti-mosquito arsenal here. I'm hoping to meet migrants who fled their homelands to attempt this journey. I'm leaving behind my partner Susie and my daughter to join them as they cross the Darien. It's a 150-kilometre jungle wilderness between Colombia and Panama that no sane person would dare enter and yet each year, thousands of people do. Migrants and refugees from around the world, including Syria, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Nepal, are willing to risk everything for a long-shot chance at reaching the USA.

 

In many ways, their story is the story of my family, my father took a gamble of his own to reach the United States. In the years running up to the revolution of the late 70s, he left Iran. Unable to get a visa to the US, he bought a ticket to Canada and faked an illness during a layover in New York. His go for broke stunt secured a safer life for us, free from threats and oppression.

 

SUSIE:  How many days will you be off the grid and in the jungle?

 

REPORTER:  It's hard to say. It just depends on the conditions and the security on the route.

 

SUSIE:  Can you please just drink a lot of water, even if it’s humid. You need it for strength.

 

I'm taking my chances in the Darien Gap, because I want to experience first-hand the struggle of migrants. The United Nations estimates globally, more than 65 million have been uprooted due to war, poverty and terrorism. Ordinary people thrust into a dance with death as they brave deserts and seas, and now, the jungle where I'm going.

 

If migration is the story of our time, the Darien Crossing is its crucible. My first stop is Bogota, the capital of Colombia. The streets are plastered with reminders of the violence that's gripped the country for more than five decades. Colombia is known for being the cocaine powerhouse of the world, producing the drug in greater quantities than any other country. But today, Colombia hides another secret trade - migrant trafficking. I meet up with a friend and colleague, Carlos Villalon, a veteran photojournalist.

 

REPORTER:  We're here!

 

We've both been documenting migration issues for years and we both chase stories in places most would rather avoid. Carlos is well connected in Colombia after covering the drug war for more than a decade.

CARLOS VILLALON, PHOTOJOURNALIST: Things change like this in the field, you know what I mean?

 

And I'm relying on him and his connections to get us through the journey safely.

 

CARLOS VILLALON:  So you understand what type of a place we’re going to go to?

 

REPORTER:  I'm getting the picture.

 

CARLOS VILLALON:  We're going to take a look and talk to super reliable sources. That's why if we make the decision it's a no-go, we are really going to be saving our asses. I mean, it's not a joke, that’s what I’m telling you, you know.

 

REPORTER:  We’re going to be smart.

 

CARLOS VILLALON: Yeah.

 

REPORTER:   We've done our home mark. Could we have a look at the map? Even a Google map we could look at?

 

Many of the places we'll visit aren't marked. There are no roads. It's lawless and uncharted.

 

CARLOS VILLALON:  Basically, from here to here, to Bijao it’s just a boat. Then we are going to get to the Wounaan Village in a boat, walk, walk and then boat.

 

We're basing our trip on a hand-drawn map from our local contacts. To our knowledge, no film crew has ever made it through the Darien before. Carlos and I, along with our cameraman Roger Arnold, will attempt the trek alongside migrants on their way to the United States. We want to walk in the shoes of those fleeing persecution, to document a migrant journey few have heard of. Drug runners, leftist rebels and cut-throat criminals also use the same route we'll take. It's risky.

 

CARLOS VILLALON (Translation): Three boxes is one dose, for a small bite, yes?

 

Then there's nature. The Darien is rife with jaguars, crocodiles, venomous spiders and snakes.

 

REPORTER:  What are the most common symptoms of the bites that are treated in that region? Necrosis, neurotoxins, haemorrhaging.

 

CARLOS VILLALON:  Lots of sweat.

 

REPORTER:  So it's multifaceted?

 

CARLOS VILLALON:  Yeah.

 

There are no medical facilities in the jungle, so our survival may depend on this snake-bite training course and our limited supply of anti-venom which we'll carry with us.

 

REPORTER:  Most of the snakes - 99% of the snakes, it's one shot to each butt cheek then the IV in the arm?

 

CARLOS VILLALON:  The most dangerous one it's a verrugoso, which is like 2m long up to 6, bites you on the vein, you have 10 minutes to live. So we’re not gonna use this thing on you, we’re gonna keep it for the next one.

 

REPORTER:  At that point I’m dead weight.

 

CARLOS VILLALON: Good luck brother.

 

REPORTER:  Save yourselves, save yourselves.

 

CARLOS VILLALON: You have ten minutes, here’s your shovel.

 

REPORTER:  No, in that case you take the machete and just hack the limb off.

 

We've prepared as much as we can, taking sat phones, trackers and medicines. Resources the migrants go without. So we travel north to the tip of Colombia, to Turbo, the hub for drug and people traffickers. Migrants fly into Latin American countries like Ecuador and Brazil where entry visas aren't required. It's here, on the edge of Colombia, where they board boats and enter the void that is the Darien Gap. But not all the boats departing from Turbo make it.

 

As with many refugees coming to Australia by boat, drownings here are not uncommon. We're told that a lot of migrants who died on the water when they were travelling in really rickety boats were buried here anonymously. If you look here is just says N, N, no name. Looks like there are about a dozen or more migrants buried here in the mausoleum.

 

Out on the river, our journey into the Darien jungle truly begins. This remote region is largely untouched by the modern world, smugglers have long used this route to move timber, guns and cocaine.

 

REPORTER:  Just made the turn up the Cacarica River that a lot of the migrants take up to the Panama border. It's pretty much virgin jungle from here on out.

 

Our driver grapples with the foliage that's choking the river. This area is controlled by the notorious Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC. For more than 50 years, the leftist rebel group has been fighting to overthrow the Colombian government. Both sides are now in peace talks, but the rebels can be brutal, they murdered a Swedish backpacker in the same area just a few years ago. Many migrants have also vanished on this route.

 

REPORTER:  So... This might be the end of the line for us for now. The water in some places is less than a foot deep and the bottom of the boat is trying to scrape a little bit. The guide is trying not to grind the rotor blades on the motor. It looks like we might have to get out and pull pretty soon.

 

We arrive at a small ramshackle hamlet, where we hope to gain permission to pass through FARC turf. Our safety depends on their good favour. We meet with Elber, a FARC representative.

 

CARLOS VILLALON (Translation): So this meeting now, what is it about?

 

ELBER, FARC REPRESENTATIVE (Translation): To talk to the bosses.

 

These men and women call the shots in this part of the Darien. They tell us that one of the few ways to earn a living out here is through drug and people trafficking. Then... They ask us to leave with them. Elber has just invited us to a clandestine meeting of the local FARC political committee. So we're just going to follow these guys and see what they have to say. They're not comfortable with our cameras but a few hours later, we're given permission to proceed through FARC territory in the Darien.

 

ELBER (Translation): Need anything from here/

 

REPORTER (Translation):    No, I’ve got everything.

 

But can we truly trust them? We push on, motoring further up river, hoping to cross paths with migrants bound for the United States. The deeper into the Darien we go, the more vulnerable we become. We stop at the village of Bijao. Bijao is known as a way station for migrants about to enter the most difficult part of their journey to America. Our plan is to wait here until the next group of migrants arrive, in the meantime we immerse ourselves in local life, including the delicacies.

 

LOCAL (Translation):  Yesenia, this is for the backbone soup, those are for my Toby.

 

Locals here hunt crocodiles for fresh meat and hearty stew.

 

LOCAL (Translation):  Am I being filmed? Hopefully you are not showing my face with this hair!

 

REPORTER (Translation):  I’m hungry guys.

 

LOCAL (Translation):  He speaks Spanish?  Where is he from? Take me to the USA.

 

CARLOS VILLALON (Translation):  He is from the USA.

 

Much like the migrants who regularly pass through, these villagers also dream of a better life.

 

REPORTER (Translation): Would you go to the USA?

 

LOCAL (Translation):  Yes, I would. You can find me a job!

 

This village lacks steady electricity, schools and clinics. People here die of treatable illnesses like malaria.

 

REPORTER (Translation): How old are you?

 

LOCAL (Translation):  Eight.

 

REPORTER (Translation):  Do you like football?

 

LOCAL (Translation):  Yes.

 

Incoming migrants buy supplies here and pay local guides hundreds of US dollars to take them through the jungle to Panama. The guides risk prison if caught by Panama's border guards. But villagers see it as a service that brings much-needed money into the community. For the migrants, it's a lifeline, without a skilled guide in the jungle, death is one wrong turn away. I was just looking around this room where we're boarding now and on the window I found a message it says "Nine Somalians", there's a list of nine names here and it's dated March 10, 2014. At the bottom it says "Panama, all", it's another piece of evidence that we're on the immigrant trail. While we kill time waiting for the next group of migrants to show up, normal village life goes on around us. 

 

REPORTER:  Unbelievable. It's 9:00am the following morning. They're still at it. They never shut down the bloody music. Rough night.

 

It's been five days and we're still waiting to share the stories of those seeking freedom and a better life. But are we chasing shadows? Finally, my producer rings with some news, and we learn why we haven't seen any migrants. The Panama border has been shut down, the migrants' route has been blocked.

 

REPORTER:  Things are so fluid right now, you know. I mean one thing is the migrants are going to find a way through regardless and if they're stopping them up in Capurgana, near the coast and now in the Darien, there are going to be routes, it opens up another opportunity for the smugglers. So it's like water, they're gonna keep moving and finding the openings.

 

It's believed some 25,000 migrants crossed into Panama last year, bound for the United States. Nobody knows how many made it all the way, but in the middle of our Dateline shoot, the country's President declares migrants will now be rejected, without exception, whether refugees or not.

 

REPORTER: So what do you think if we continue, get as close as we can…

 

CARLOS VILLALON:  We’re going to, we’re going to.

 

REPORTER:  We just keep getting intel from the locals.

 

CARLOS VILLALON: We’re going to do as we planned and then we’re going to go up there anyway.

 

REPORTER:  OK. This guy says three hours.

 

CARLOS VILLALON: Three hours to get there.

 

Restless, after a week of waiting, we hit the water in search of other villages where migrants sometimes pass through.

 

REPORTER:  A little map from above, it shows something like this.

 

We haven't seen anyone on the river all day, so when the driver tells us he smells migrants, I'm sceptical. But then... People.

 

CARLOS VILLALON:  How are you doin', guys?

 

REPORTER:  How are you guys? You speak English?

 

Two weary stragglers. We walk in the muddy water to catch up to their boat. Hungry and exhausted, they tell me their homes are in Bangladesh and Nepal.

 

REPORTER:  When did you leave Bangladesh?

 

REFUGEE:  One month.

 

They've come halfway around the world and as their smiles fade, their hardships tumble out.

 

REFUGEE (Translation):  We’ve had no food for four days and only river water to drink. We’ve had so much trouble, we haven’t slept for eleven days and haven’t eaten for four. I left my father, mother, brother and sister to come here. Oh God!

 

REFUGEE 2 (Translation):  In Bangladesh… they cut us. Here…here… They chopped us here, they chopped us and we had to leave. That’s why we had to come to the jungle.

 

REPORTER:  Just a little bit more then we rest, sleep, rest, OK? OK, let's go, quickly.

 

Together, we trudge two hours up the river shallows back to Bijao village, where we've been staying. The migrants can relax for the first time in days. They've travelled overland from Brazil, through Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, to Colombia.

 

REFUGEE (Translation):  “Emru, Samad, Choiree, Boygo-chaad…” Name, date of birth… What’s the date?

 

REFUGEE 2 (Translation):  The 15^th.

 

In this migrant hostel, they read messages from those who've braved the journey before them and then, leave their mark, confident that when the next group reads their names, they will be safe in Panama, and continuing onward to the US.

 

REFUGEE (Translation):  “Monir 12/04/2016”  “Habib, father of Qais.”

 

People join migration trails across the globe for all kinds of reasons, mostly to escape danger and persecution but some cross borders for purely economic reasons. We can't know for sure if these travelers are genuine refugees.  It's late but 20-year-old Arafat from Bangladesh wants to tell me about his journey so far. With the help of a translator via satellite phone, I learn more about why he's here, risking his life in the Darien Gap.

 

ARAFAT (Translation):  I am here in the jungle because of political problems, I left my parents and siblings and everyone for political reasons. I don’t know how my parents are and they don’t know where I am or how I am.

 

REPORTER:  Arafat, are you scared about this journey, about what lies ahead, about all the unknowns?

 

ARAFAT (Translation): If you remember God, then you will always be successful.

 

By night fall, nine more migrants have joined us from Cameroon, Togo and Gambia. The group now totals 20. They're bound together by a shared hope of starting over in the United States. The kind of life my father envisioned and got for us. In the morning, we plan to enter the Darien Gap together. It's at least two full days' trek through the jungle to the border.

 

REPORTER:  Goodnight, sleep well. Goodnight, man.

 

The riskiest part of one of the world's most treacherous migrant journeys lies ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

reporter

jason motlagh

 

story producer

meggie palmer

georgina davies

 

local producer

carlos villalon 

 

camera

roger Arnold

 

production manager & logistics

kayla Richardson

 

story editor

micah mcgowan

 

translations

sikder taher ahmad
sameer ghimire
mariana rodriguez-valenzuela 
henar perales

 

original music

vicki hansen

 

 

13^th September 2016