Panama starts returning migrants on US-funded flights

Panama will start on Tuesday to repatriate undocumented migrants on flights financed by the United States.

The move comes less than two months after José Raúl Mulino was sworn in as Panama's president.

Mr Mulino campaigned on a promise to "close" the Darién Gap, the dangerous stretch of jungle which more than half a million migrants crossed last year on their way north from South America.

The Biden administration said it had agreed to pay for the flights as part of its efforts to deter irregular migration.