Immigration through the Darien Gap - questions about immigrants from non south / Central American countries

I read this article from The Atlantic today (incredibly heartbreaking) and I found myself having a few questions and I was wondering if this would be a good place for a discussion / if anyone could shed some light on this.

I had heard about the Darien Gap and had always assumed it was pretty much exclusively immigration from South America into central / North America (apols if this is incredibly uneducated of me). So I was surprised to read about immigrants from China / Vietnam / Haiti / Ethiopia / India amongst others flying to Colombia to join this incredibly dangerous journey into the US.

I understand that they're escaping many difficult and incredibly harrowing situations. But the article outlines one story where someone flies into France and then from France to Colombia and this really threw me. I live in France and I've lived in the UK, Ireland, Spain, Germany and the States (albeit briefly). I can't understand making your way to Europe and choosing to continue on to a horrifically perilous journey.

Obviously Europe has also experienced an immigration crisis with catastrophic events and tragedy... but to me it seems a much more humane system and less dangerous than the perils of the Darien Gap. I know that there are reasons like family ties, the US' cultural strength etc etc... but I still just find it all quite difficult to understand the numbers.

If anyone can shed light into this I would be so grateful - if only to quell my own curiosity. Thank you.

• edited for spelling errors