How migration transformed an Indigenous town in Panama’s Darien Gap

Bajo Chiquito, an isolated community inhabited by the Emberá-Wounaan people in Panama's Darién region, has experienced profound and potentially irreversible changes due to surging migration flows. As hundreds of thousands of migrants journey north toward the United States through the dense rainforest, the village has emerged as a major logistical and transit hub. The rapid influx has disrupted traditional lifestyle patterns and local community infrastructure while introducing new economic dependencies and cultural shifts.