What migrants face as they journey through the deadly Darien Gap

Whether fleeing war, persecution, poverty or the effects of climate change, migrants and refugees worldwide routinely find themselves in great danger. Perhaps the most hazardous migrant trail of all is the Darien Gap, a wild, lawless stretch straddling Colombia and Panama. Before the pandemic, special correspondent Nadja Drost and videographer Bruno Federico reported from this perilous path.

ABC Foreign Correspondent. On New York City’s Coronavirus Frontline

The Big Apple is in bad shape. It’s the epicentre of the US fight against the corona virus outbreak. Its people are in lockdown while frontline services wage war against the pandemic. With over fourteen thousand dead, New York City accounts for around one third of all corona-related deaths in the US. Every day, there are hundreds of new infections and deaths. The city’s hospitals are overflowing, health workers lack medical and protective equipment and morgues have run out of space. Foreign Correspondent’s reporter Karishma Vyas, a New York resident, goes behind the lines of the city’s battle to slow infections, save lives, protect its vulnerable and bury the dead. We follow paramedics as they respond to emergency house calls, helping desperate families. We discover many who die of COVID-19 don’t make the official death toll. We film with the police union as they hand out desperately needed personal safety equipment to their officers. “I thought I’d seen it all on September 11th, but I’ve never seen anything like this. We’re anticipating this getting even worse. So that’s why we’re trying to get this equipment out to our guys”, says a Union officer. We speak with an ICU nurse who’s travelled from out of state to lend a hand in a Bronx hospital. He tells us about working double shifts, often with no break, and the pressure of looking after multiple critically ill patients at the same time. A good day is when none of his patients die. One overworked doctor describes his frustration with the US health system. “I’ve had people come in barely breathing and their first question isn’t ‘Am I going to survive?’ It’s ‘How is this going to impact my family financially?’” “This illness exposes all the fault-lines throughout American society”, says the doctor. And we catch up with characters who embody the city’s spirit of defiance and survival. “I want to be remembered as someone who never left the frontlines and who was essential”, says the Naked Cowboy, a performer whose stage is Times Square – rain, hail or coronavirus. This is an intimate and powerful portrait of a city in crisis. About Foreign Correspondent: Foreign Correspondent is the prime-time international public affairs program on Australia’s national broadcaster, ABC-TV. We produce half-hour duration in-depth reports for broadcast across the ABC’s television channels and digital platforms. Since 1992, our teams have journeyed to more than 170 countries to report on war, natural calamity and social and political upheaval – through the eyes of the people at the heart of it all.

PBS NewsHour. Yielding to U.S. pressure, Mexico clamps down on migrants

Thousands of migrants from around the world, many seeking asylum, have been trying to reach the U.S. by flying to South America and taking the long trek north. But after pressure from President Trump, Mexican authorities are stopping many migrants from passing through their country, stranding them in the city of Tapachula. Special correspondent Nadja Drost and videographer Bruno Federico report.

PBS Newshour. Families of Colombia’s disappeared endure ‘never-ending grief’ and a wrenching search

In Colombia, an estimated 83,000 people have been forcibly disappeared since 1958. But peace accords between the government and the FARC, the country’s largest guerrilla group, in 2016 mandated that finding the missing was a necessary step toward reconciliation. Special correspondent Nadja Drost reports from Colombia on how loved ones suffering a “never-ending grief” are searching for closure.

Venezuela’s political battle over foreign aid turns to violent confrontation

Violent protests erupted this past weekend in Venezuela over humanitarian aid shipments into the country. Meanwhile, Vice President Pence traveled to Colombia to meet with opposition leader Juan Guaido, promising that the U.S. would increase sanctions on Venezuela in an attempt to oust President Maduro, and calling for other countries to do the same. Special correspondent Nadja Drost reports.

Why Venezuela’s Chavistas are fiercely loyal to Maduro, despite economic crisis

Violence has broken out in Venezuela as opposition groups, led by Juan Guaido, attempt to bring in foreign aid against the will of President Nicolas Maduro. Despite international support for Guaido, a fiercely loyal minority of Venezuelans known as Chavistas are determined to keep Maduro in power — and the U.S. out. Special correspondent Nadja Drost and videographer Bruno Federico report.

PBS Newshour. FARC drops its weapons, but Colombia’s deadly conflict goes on

 

Despite the peace deal, new waves of deadly violence are hitting many areas of Colombia, especially those once under FARC-rebel control. And it’s targeting the very people — activists and social leaders — for whom the peace deal was supposed to make life safer. Special correspondent Nadja Drost and videographer Bruno Federico report in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

Italy discouraging flow of migrants from North Africa

Italy has received 500,000 migrants and refugees from North Africa who have fled war, extreme poverty and oppression during the last three years. But the country, which had a reputation of welcoming migrants, has received backlash for it and is starting to discourage the migrant flow. For the NewsHour Weekend with Special Correspondent Nadja Drost reports.