One day after the government of President Sebastián Piñera announced the “state of exception” in several northern border towns and the implementation of the new migration law, confusion and discontent increased among the foreigners who arrived at the border crossings. border with Bolivia.
In Colchane, province of Tamarugal, dozens of migrants crowded without certainty waiting to enter the country or be redirected to Bolivia, as confirmed Eph.
The day before, the Government announced the entry into force of the regulations of the new migration law, promoted by the conservative Sebastián Piñera to harden the borders.
In addition, it decreed a “state of exception”, a regime that allows the deployment of the Armed Forces, in four provinces: Tamarugal, El Loa, Arica and Parinacota, on Chile’s border with Bolivia and Peru, to the north.
These measures were taken after two days of stoppages and strikes by truckers who demanded more security on the roads and the curbing of migration through clandestine steps after the death on Thursday of a carrier during an alleged confrontation with a group of foreigners.
Despite the fact that the new migration law came into force in 2021, the approval of the regulation was pending, which was published on Saturday in the official gazette and will allow expulsions to be speeded up and even “hot returns” to be made, without a judicial procedure.
Dozens of migrants told Eph that the police authorities guided them this Sunday to carry out a self-denunciation process, where, if they were found to have a record, they would be returned to the neighboring country.
However, in the morning hours, the Colchane border complex closed its doors, triggering a demonstration by families and travelers who spent the night outdoors despite having a PCR test.
“We don’t have to pay for other people’s crimes. There are criminals everywhere, regardless of their nationality. We come to support our families,” Andrea Durán, a young Venezuelan woman, who protested with her son, told Efe.
A total of 39 adults and an undetermined number of children were taken to Bolivia, although the authorities of that country did not clarify whether they would be received.
The chaos also took over the temporary camp set up by the government to serve migrants already in Colchane, which ended up collapsed after truck stoppages that prevented the transfer of people to long-stay shelters.
In these provinces and other areas of northern Chile there has been a strong migration crisis for months with the massive arrival of undocumented people and the holding of strikes against migration, trucker stoppages and xenophobic attacks.
The inclement highland passes of the north continue to form the main irregular entry route to Chile, which despite the pandemic and the social crisis of 2019, remains one of the most attractive countries to migrate within Latin America due to its political and economic stability.
In total there are 1.4 million migrants in the country, which is equivalent to more than 7% of the population, and Venezuelans are the most numerous, followed by Peruvians, Haitians and Colombians.
After two days of carrier strikes, traffic returned to normal in most of the country except in the Tarapacá region (north), where the demonstrations continued and the partial blockade of a regional airport suspended most of its operations. flights.
In parallel, and through a statement, the governors of Arica, Tarapacá and Antofagasta, the three northernmost regions, summoned Minister Delgado to make another of the announcements: the increase in police forces and the promised resources and infrastructure to combat crime. .
“We demand that the Government resolve this conflict in a serious and responsible manner, urgently implementing the announced measures,” they sentenced.
The state of emergency is still pending to be officially decreed by the president, something that is presumed could happen next week.
Governors of the northern zone ask for measures after the announcement of a state of emergency
Governors Jorge Díaz Ibarra (Arica and Parinacota), José Miguel Carvajal (Tarapacá) and Ricardo Díaz (Antofagasta), said that they have worked together, always with the focus of improving safety conditions and quality of life for the inhabitants of their regions. .
“Citizens are witnesses that we have permanently allocated the necessary resources in security matters; We have also worked with the competent bodies, mayors, regional councilors, union, social and religious organizations, with the aim of being able to overcome the crisis we face today,” they argued.
In this sense, they requested “urgently” that the Government take the pertinent actions and mandate and deploy the national and regional authorities in the territory, in order to solve the security problems and give priority attention to the migratory crisis that affects the entire northern macrozone for more than two years.”
“However, all the actions that have been carried out to date have been unsuccessful and insufficient by the government,” they affirmed, reaffirming the following points:
“1.- We value the implementation of the new Migration Law No. 21,235, but we believe it is necessary to indicate how its implementation will be financed (staffing, infrastructure and enabling of 24-hour border complexes), the redirection action, since today the border crossings are closed (Chacalluta, Chungará, Colchane and Ollagüe).
2.- Regarding the State of Exception decree, it is required that the real number of Army personnel be indicated for each region.
3.- According to the minute delivered by the Minister of the Interior, we request to know in detail, the special plan that will be implemented to strengthen security measures for the northern macrozone (intervention plan in neighborhoods and routes of greater conflict) . In addition, it is requested that it be clarified if the measures indicated in point three Special Police Plan (logistic equipment and training), indicating if these will be the same for all the regions of the northern macrozone.
4.- We request the government’s commitment to permanently increase the number of Law Enforcement and Security forces by 30%, both for the protection of citizens and our roads.
5.- We request that the undersecretary (Juan Francisco) Galli and his teams be installed permanently in the northern macrozone, in order to coordinate in a decentralized manner and on the ground each one of the committed actions, and thereby show the real commitment of advancing in integral solutions for the northern macro zone
6.- Finally, we request information on the measures that the Ministry of the Interior will adopt, regarding the migrant camps located in each region.”
“The Governors of the northern macrozone, we demand that the government resolve this conflict in a serious and responsible manner, urgently implementing the measures announced by the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, making ourselves available in order to resolve the demands of the citizenship and thereby reduce insecurity and violence in our regions”, they concluded.
