Panama on Tuesday started repatriating 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.

A group of 29 Colombians with criminal records were the first to be returned on Tuesday.

Under an agreement jointly signed by the Panamanian foreign minister and US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the US has committed to helping Panama with $6m (£4.6m) for equipment, transportation and logistics to “remove foreign nationals who do not have a legal basis to remain in Panama”.

Immigration is a hot topic ahead of November’s presidential election in the US and the stream of migrants arriving at its border with Mexico is being closely monitored.