Child migration through Panama’s dangerous Darien Gap is up 40%, UN report says

PANAMA CITY (AP) — A U.N. report says child migration through Panama’s dangerous Darien Gap is up 40% so far this year. UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency, says that an estimated 30,000 minors have crossed the jungle-clad trail between Colombia and Panama. The report says a total of 139,000 migrants of all ages have made the crossing in the same period. But UNICEF predicted that, at the current rate, as many as 800,000 migrants and 160,000 minors could make the crossing by the end of the year. The agency says more funding is needed to care for the underage migrants. Many of the migrants making the crossing are Venezuelan, Haitian, Ecuadoran and Chinese.