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Dateline attempts deadly border crossing

SBS is touting a "world TV exclusive" as Dateline follows a group of desperate migrants risking their lives in an attempt to reach the USA.

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SBS is touting a “world TV exclusive” as Dateline follows a group of desperate migrants risking their lives between Colombia and Panama in an attempt to reach the USA.

The Darién Gap is a 150 km stretch of mountainous wilderness on the border of Colombia and Panama. The area is controlled by Colombia’s anti-government guerilla fighters known as FARC and a known corridor for the movement of weapons and home to drug traffickers, kidnappers, jaguars and snakes.

Never successfully crossed by a TV crew, Dateline‘s Jason Motlagh treks through the jungle passage where thousands of migrants journey north each year in an attempt to reach the USA.

During the journey Dateline’s team and the migrants they follow, face fear, hunger and de-hydration. They lose their way in the maze of wilderness and are confronted by venomous snakes, disease, machete wielding guides and a sudden border closure, intended to stop migrant crossings.

Dateline uncovers the risks migrants are prepared to take in the hope of a better life – documenting their perilous journey.

In this two-part special, Dateline’s Jason Motlagh undertakes this grueling physical and deeply personal journey. Jason’s father was an Iranian migrant who took his own gamble in order to reach the United States. Fleeing Iran in the 1970s and unable to get a US visa, his father faked an illness during a flight layover in New York. As he was transported to a medical clinic he escaped, becoming an illegal immigrant, but also forging a privileged life for himself and his family in the US. Jason says if it were not for his father’s efforts – his life would be very different.

Tuesday 13 September and 20 September at 9.30pm on SBS.

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