Panama Rejects Allegations It Violated Migrants' Rights

BY A STAFF REPORTER: Panama's security ministry said the panamanian government has rejected allegations of human rights violations by U.S. immigrants who entered irregularly through the dangerous jungles of the Darian Gap. A U.N. document sent to the Panamanian government late last week alleges that the country's officials sexually assaulted migrants crossing the Darian border. The documents accuse those deprived of forced labor and freedom at immigration checkpoints. Panama's Security Ministry in a statement dismissed "in strong terms" allegations that panamanian agencies and international organisations were trying to "undermine" humanitarian work to help migrants entering Central America from Colombia. The ministry said the government will conduct a "relevant investigation".