Miles and miles of wall on the United States’ southern border but not enough to keep out illegal migrants, including from China.SINGAPORE: In Ecuador’s capital city, Quito, there can be found a guest house catering almost exclusively for Chinese travellers.
It was not long before shouting ensued. “Don’t sabotage us! Please understand our concerns,” implored one migrant, who did not want his face to be filmed. For the Chinese migrants, warmth and generosity were rare commodities on their journey. And for the CNA crew, finding profiles for their documentary was not the biggest challenge.
“The decision was made that I’d come in at the very beginning, starting with pre-deployment training , teaching the team a little bit about jungle survival, how to manage yourself, what kit … to take,” he said. People were squeezing through the gap right in front of the crew. “To our surprise, it was pretty easy for them,” said Faddly. “Just walk through it, and you’ve made it, you’re in the US now.”The border was where the crew first heard the Chinese migrants tell their stories before they were processed by the US Border Patrol.
“That was why he was making the trip,” said Du. “It does give you this unsettling feeling that a lot of them were getting into something they didn’t understand would later come to regret.” “Gradually, they took over the show — they became our main profiles, and they really just carried it all the way.”After the flight, the crew took a bus to the town of Necocli, the jumping-off point for the migrants’ entry to the Darien Gap.
“We’d be walking through an area. You’d see … looking at us, pointing, sending feedback to whoever their bosses are.” Nonetheless, she got the fixer to meet the jungle commander to see if her team would “stand a chance” of crossing the jungle. After three days waiting for permission, they were told the paramilitary had turned them away.The team made plans to fly to Panama City instead, then drive down to Panama’s south-east Darien province, hoping to catch the migrants exiting the Darien Gap.
“That was the first time we saw them after about a week. And I was worried about how they were coping, whether they were healthy,” she said. “But the first thing they said … was, ‘Wei, we brought your sunglasses.’