Photo of Mario Beducci in Unsplash
Marielbis Campos stopped in a town in the Panamanian Caribbean, with no money, no direction, and four children to support. One of them, barely a year old, rides on her back, just as he did during the Darien crossing. Her dream of reaching the United States no longer exists. She traded it for the idea of returning to Brazil, where she once found some stability.
Like Marielbis, thousands of migrants are turning back. After years of looking north, they are now heading south. The phenomenon is neither anecdotal nor temporary. It's a new wave of migration, but in reverse.
The migrants' journey in reverse
Since November 2024, more than 12,700 migrants have crossed Panama into Colombia, in the opposite direction from the one that had taken them to Darién years before. In 94, %, they are Venezuelans. Gone are the speeches of opportunity and the promise of the "American Dream." The return is imposed by necessity, fear, or disappointment.
The reasons for their return are many: the tightening of immigration policies in the U.S., the return of Donald Trump to the White House, the lack of resources to continue, extortion, kidnappings. Many wait for help that never arrives.
Migrants: “Here we are held back by the sea and money”
In Miramar, a Panamanian town overlooking the Caribbean, dozens of migrants are waiting to board a boat to Colombia. Some want to return to Venezuela, others just want to escape the danger of life in limbo. Most have no papers or money for humanitarian flights.
Jesús Alfredo Aristigueta, a 32-year-old Venezuelan, says he was kidnapped in Mexico while trying to return. “The worst thing wasn't not getting there. The worst thing was getting back and not having a way to get there,” he laments. The assistance that once made it easier to travel north no longer exists for those who want to return.
The dangers do not end
Colombia has seen an unusual increase in people crossing the Darién River on foot from Panama. More than 10,000 migrants have made this return crossing in five months. These are invisible crossings, without support, without safe routes, and with the constant risk of criminal networks, human trafficking, and sexual violence.
The Ombudsman's Office has issued warnings: those returning do so without protection, without institutional support. Many are unaccompanied minors.
An uncertain homeland
Venezuela has attempted to respond with the "Great Mission Return to the Homeland" program, which has brought back more than 5,600 people deported by the U.S. on flights with stopovers in Mexico or Central America. Upon arrival, they receive medical care and promises of job reinstatement. But for most, the country they return to is no better than the one they left.
Mireille Girard, from UNHCR in Colombia, sums it up this way: “Reverse migration is a new humanitarian challenge. It requires urgent cooperation.”
New destinations, same emptiness
Not all migrants return. Some simply change direction. In Ecuador, migration flows are veering toward Argentina. More than 7,700 Ecuadorians have left in the first months of 2025 without any record of their return. Meanwhile, circular migration programs promoted by the Ecuadorian government have yet to take off.
In Peru, the situation is becoming critical: the reduction in cooperation funds has limited support for Venezuelan migrants. And more than 12,000 Peruvians have been deported from the United States since 2022.
In the Dominican Republic, the situation is even more brutal: more than 153,000 Haitians have been deported in just five months, even from hospitals, where documentation is now required before medical care is provided.
An exodus without a map
The road back is marked by poverty, uncertainty, and a lack of answers. As migration policies tighten, those who leave, and those who return, remain trapped in a system that doesn't see them, doesn't protect them, and doesn't wait for them.
The steps that led north yesterday return today along the same paths. But the dangers remain the same. Only now, they are no longer dreamed of.
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