AP has rare access as Haitian migrants, in bid to reach US, face…

An AP all-formats team documents Haitian migrants embarking on a six-day journey into forbidding Colombian jungle.

Hundreds of migrants try each day to cross the Darien Gap — a thick jungle between Colombia and Panama traversed by many ultimately seeking the U.S. border — yet journalists rarely observe more than the first few steps of the journey.

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Predominantly Haitian migrants fill a boat that will take them to Acandi, near the border with Panama, as they depart Necocli, Colombia, Sept. 13, 2021. Migrants were gathering in Necocli as they moved north in hope of reaching the U.S. border.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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Haitian migrants in Necocli, Colombia, board a boat that will take them to Acandi, near the border with Panama, Sept. 13, 2021, as they move north on a journey to the U.S. border.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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Haitian migrants prepare to board boats in Necocli, Colombia, Sept. 13, 2021, as they move north to Acandi, near Colombia’s border with Panama, on their journey to the U.S. border.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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A migrant waits to board a boat that will take Haitians from Necocli, Colombia, to Acandi, a town near the border with Panama, Sept. 13, 2021.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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Tents of Haitian migrants crowd the beach in Necocli, Colombia, Sept. 13, 2021, as tmigrants wait for boats that will carry them north on their journey to the U.S. border.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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Haitian migrants camp on the beach in Necocli, Colombia, Sept. 13, 2021, as they wait for boats that will carry them north on their journey to the U.S. border.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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Migrants arrive by boat in Acandi, Colombia, Sept. 14, 2021.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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Migrants cross the Acandi River on a horse cart in Acandi, Colombia, Sept. 14, 2021. The migrants, hoping to reach the U.S. border, were following a perilous route to Panama through the jungle known as the Darien Gap.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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Migrants, many Haitian, rest at a camp in Acandi, Colombia, Sept. 14, 2021, on a journey to the U.S. border. The were to continue continue into Panama through the jungle known as the Darien Gap.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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A migrant eats breakfast inside her tent at a camp in Acandi, Colombia, Sept. 15, 2021.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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Haitian migrants continue their trek north in Acandi, Colombia, Sept. 15, 2021. Following a well-trodden route through the jungle known as the Darien Gap, they hope to reach the U.S. border.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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Migrants, some carrying children, continue their trek north near Acandi, Colombia, Sept. 15, 2021. The migrants, most Haitian, are on their way to crossing the Darien Gap jungle from Colombia into Panama, dreaming of reaching the U.S.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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A man carries a child as migrants continue their trek north near Acandi, Colombia, Sept. 15, 2021. They were on their way to crossing the Darien Gap jungle from Colombia into Panama.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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A migrant carries two children across a river as they continue their trek north,near Acandi, Colombia, Sept. 15, 2021. The migrants, most Haitian, were on their way to crossing the perilous Darien Gap from Colombia into Panama, dreaming of reaching the U.S.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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Migrants cross the Acandi River as they continue on their trek north in Acandi, Colombia, Sept. 15, 2021, hoping to eventually reach the U.S. border.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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A migrant woman cradles a child as she crosses the Acandi River in Acandi, Colombia, Sept. 15, 2021.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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Migrants continue their trek north near Acandi, Colombia, Sept. 15, 2021.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

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A family snapshot lies on the ground near a trail used by migrants near Acandi, Colombia, Sept. 15, 2021. Personal items were lost or discarded as the migrants, many Haitian, made the journey north, hoping to reach the U.S. border.

AP Photo / Fernando Vergara

But after days of negotiations with locals who participate in a human-trafficking network that shows migrants the way for a fee, the Bogota-based all-formats team of correspondent Astrid Suárez, photographer Fernando Vergara and video journalist Marko Álvarez were given exclusive access to the first hour of a treacherous six-day journey. Immigration officials say it’s a passage that is being undertaken at record levels — with some 70,000 migrants making the trek so far this year.

That single hour was enough to tell the stories of migrants willing to risk their lives in a jungle teeming with snakes, bandits and raging rivers that reached their waists and drowned out their voices. The AP team documented the exhaustion as migrants started to abandon belongings to carry less weight — leaving everything from clothes to wedding portraits strewn along the trail. And yet, they reported, the greatest danger is other humans, as armed groups control trails to traffick drugs and target migrants for theft and sexual assault.

#Darien | Se toparon con la primera loma empinada. Las maletas empezaron a pesar, una familia se detuvo y dejó sus abrigos. Otra tiró las fotografías de su matrimonio. Lo que no sabían era que se trataba de la montaña más baja que debían atravesar.https://t.co/TDDFUCmtvK pic.twitter.com/ViGhUGQlOg
— Astrid Suárez (@Astrid_Suarezg) September 18, 2021

For a stark all-formats portrait of desperation and determination in the depths of the jungle, Suárez, Vergara and Álvarez earn AP’s Best of the Week - First Winner.

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Honorable Mentions:

AP reports on furtive lives of US residents still in Afghanistan

Bernard Condon and Julie Watson

kept following a story much of the media has moved on from: what day-to-day life is like for American resident green-card holders who were left behind after the U.S. military’s chaotic exit from Afghanistan.

The pair’s story, based on text messages, emails and phone conversations from those still in Afghanistan to loved ones and rescue groups, and directly with the AP, described a fearful, furtive existence of hiding in houses for weeks, keeping the lights off at night, moving from place to place, and donning baggy clothing and burqas to avoid detection by the Taliban if they absolutely must venture out.

All say they were scared the Taliban would find them, throw them in jail, perhaps even kill them because they are Americans or had worked for the U.S. government. And they are concerned that the Biden administration’s promised efforts to get them out have stalled.

Investigative reporter Condon and San Diego-based journalist Watson had to walk a fine line, telling individuals’ stories without identifying details that would open them to potential retaliation. The ambitious story, accompanied by photos provided by one family of green card holders from California, was part of an important body of AP work over the past week that remained focused on Afghanistan in the aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal. https://aplink.news/yt9

AP: In drought-stricken West, farmers ponder water-sharing plan

Gillian Flaccus, Nathan Howard and Brittany Peterson

teamed up on an all-formats package that used two Oregon carrot seed farmers, living just miles apart, to illustrate the deep inequities of water distribution amid crippling drought. The contrast between the two farm fields — one a virtual desert, while a short distance away sprinklers douse crops and cattle graze on green grass — illustrates the arcane water allocation rules determining who will wither and who will thrive amid the ongoing drought in the American West.

Using this striking example, the journalists explored how farmers, out of necessity, are considering proposals to set up water banks that use the supply and demand principles of the free market to funnel scarce water where it’s needed most while encouraging conservation. But the concept also brings risk and resistance.

Flaccus reported on the ground in and around Madras, Oregon, and shot video, while Peterson reported from Denver and produced the video, which featured Howard’s striking photos and drone footage of the drought’s impact. Top Stories Desk photo editor Alyssa Goodman in New York drew all the elements together in an engaging presentation that saw remarkable play in the West and beyond.
https://aplink.news/a4u
https://aplink.video/k19

AP: In drought-stricken West, farmers of weed are stealing water

Andrew Selsky

revealed that illegal marijuana growers are taking water in uncontrolled amounts, draining wells used by landowners and farmers — and that overstretched law enforcement can do little about it.

Selsky, based in Salem, Oregon, has reported on the impact of drought in the West and for years has tracked the burgeoning market for legal pot. But when he checked with sources about water theft by illegal marijuana grows, he quickly found that the situation was dire. Hundreds of huge illegal grows have been erected, too many for law enforcement officials to raid.

The problem is showing up in parts of Oregon and California. Selsky visited a neighborhood in central Oregon where a homeowner was having a new well drilled after his existing well ran dry just a block away from a recently busted illegal grow. And he tracked down a resident in southern Oregon who for decades has depended on a creek for growing food. That creek has gone completely dry since large illegal marijuana grows began popping up in the area last spring. The local sheriff described “catastrophic” consequences for natural water resources, citing “blatant theft.” https://aplink.news/v3c

Hanoi producer documents his 9-week lockdown ‘weekend’

Hau Dinh

had embarked on a midsummer weekend getaway with his partner in the seaside resort of Vung Tau, Vietnam. But when when a surge of COVID-19 prompted tight restrictions, turning his visit into more than nine weeks of lockdown, Dinh delivered an all-formats first-person account of his life stuck in an apartment away from home.

In text, photos and video, Hanoi-based video producer Dinh opened the doors to his lockdown home, creatively documenting what one does with so much time indoors while restricted to a quick once-a-week trip to a nearby drug store and grocery. He said he sometimes lost track of time, but a stark reminder of how long he’d been in lockdown was an avocado plant. A seed when he took it from a restaurant just before the lockdown, he watched it grow more than 30 centimeters (1 foot) tall.
https://aplink.news/3o9
https://aplink.video/mzo

Best of the Week — First Winner

Sept. 24, 2021

AP has rare access as Haitian migrants, in bid to reach US, face perilous jungle crossing of Darien Gap

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