Text:Josefina Salomón Photos: Sergio Ortiz Borbolla
“There is a tense calm in Necoclí,” says Sergio Ortíz Borbolla, documentary photographer and co-founder of In.Visibles.
The town, located on the shore of the Gulf of Urabá in Colombia and a key point on the route that hundreds of thousands of migrants take every year to reach the United States, is controlled by the Clan del Golfo, one of the most powerful criminal organisations in Latin America.
Entire families live in tents on the beach for weeks and even months while waiting their turn to be taken through the Darien jungle in Panama. While the Colombian government offers little protection in the area, Panama’s new president, José Raúl Mulino, has just signed an agreement with the US government to facilitate deportations from the country.
Necoclí is a key point in the journey that brings thousands of people to cross the Darién jungle every year. The number of people making the dangerous journey has exploded in recent decades. While 10 years ago, between 1,000 and 2,000 people managed to cross what was considered an impenetrable zone each year, now the figure is closer to 1,000 a day.
People of more than 100 nationalities cross the Darién Gap each year. UNICEF estimates that at least a quarter are children.
“Necoclí is a very small but beautiful beach. The people who made the trip in the past used to be just a few tourists. People told me that they never imagined things would turn out the way they are now,” says Sergio Ortiz Borbolla.
The town of Necoclí is controlled by the Gulf Clan (Clan del Golfo), one of the most powerful criminal organisations in Colombia. “It is impressive to see the control that the Gulf Clan has over everything that happens there. What you see is a tense calm in the air”.
A woman waits her turn to board the small boat that will drop her and her family of six at the entrance to the Darién. “There were many people who had been waiting for months for their turn to leave, either because of safety concerns or because they hadn’t raised enough money to be able to do it.”
“This story has stuck with me. They were father and son and they had been there on the beach for weeks, waiting their turn to cross. The father told us that every day he washed the boy’s costume because his son told him that he was not going to cross the jungle unless he was dressed as a dinosaur because that was his armour and with it he felt invincible”.
The port of Turbo in the department of Antioquia is another key point for thousands of people before they cross the Darién.
Jonas (not his real name) and his family have just arrived at the port of Turbo to start their journey to the Darién.
A mother and her baby spend the afternoon in a makeshift camp they have set up with her family at the entrance to the port of Turbo. Their goal is to reach the United States. “Families go through many stages in a very dangerous journey that is full of obstacles. Many arrive without preparation or information and that puts them in a lot of danger.”
Many families wait weeks or months at the port to be able to cross the jungle.
