First published May 31, 2024 by Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), together with our local partner Cadena and in coordination with health authorities, is providing expanded access to medical and psychological care services at facilities in the Southern Migration Station in Costa Rica.
Every day, hundreds of migrants arrive in Costa Rica after crossing the Darién Gap, a jungle that divides Colombia and Panama. Along the way, they suffer the impact of nature’s hostility, security risks, and other dangers on one of the most dangerous land migration routes in the world, particularly that of sexual violence.
— Carlos Estrella, MSF Project Coordinator in Costa Rica
Our immediate priority is to provide care within 72 hours after the event of sexual violence, because that is where the greatest number of physical and mental impacts can be prevented, mainly HIV infection.
For this reason, since mid-April, we are facilitating access to medical and psychological care services for migrant survivors of sexual violence. In the facilities of the Estación Migratoria del Sur (EMI Sur – Southern Migration Station), we work with our local partner Cadena and in coordination with health authorities and other groups through awareness-raising, active identification of cases, and provision of comprehensive assistance.
During the first days, activities focused on comprehensive care for survivors of sexual violence. All organisations present in EMI Sur have been trained on recruitment of cases of sexual violence, agreeing on its immediate implementation in all their processes.
“The idea is that medical, nursing, psychology and social work personnel reinforce strategies aimed at the active recruitment of cases—within the medical office or in strategic spaces such as the wound healing room—through specific dialogues with key questions,” says Carlos Estrella, MSF project coordinator in Costa Rica.
The suspension of our activities on the Panama side of the Darién Gap is seriously impacting the medical and humanitarian care received by migrants, especially those who have survived sexual violence during their journey.
“This project aims to reduce the impact of this gap,” says Estrella. “Our immediate priority is to provide care within 72 hours after the event of sexual violence, because that is where the greatest number of physical and mental impacts can be prevented, mainly HIV infection. But not being [present] in the Darién implies the risk of not arriving in that time.”
The project is intended to last for two months, after which an evaluation will be made to define the next steps within the operational strategy.
“Ultimately, what we intend with this initiative is to develop an interdisciplinary and comprehensive medical care strategy that reduces revictimization and offers the treatments and interventions that patients need in a confidential space,” says Estrella.