One day after the regulation of the new Migration Law was approved in Chile, there is total chaos in the Colchane Border Complex. The disorder is due to the contradictory indications that exist regarding the application of the regulations of the migration law, especially the one referring to the point of redirection.
Migrants who are in the border area explained that they received the instruction of the Chilean police and military, to go to the Border Complex to carry out a self-reporting process in which those with criminal records would be returned to Bolivia.
But nevertheless, once they arrived at the border complex and having taken some self-reporting processesthe people were removed from the place and the complex closed its doors.
According to some sources inside the complex, this is because the Bolivian authorities denied the entry into their country of the migrants who entered Chile irregularly from Bolivia.
Migrants, especially Venezuelans, are currently blocking traffic on the international highway, requesting respect for their rights since they cannot return to Bolivia or enter Chile.
This situation has been complicated given that the shelter for migrants in Colchane is collapsed. In addition, the authorities of this Chilean commune made it known that the situation tends to worsen due to the limited resources that the region has to receive foreigners.
On Saturday, the Chilean government decreed a state of exception in the north of the neighboring country (Arica, Parinacota and Tamarugal and El Loa), epicenter of a migration crisis, which will come into force from this Monday February 14.
With this measure, the government seeks to solve the migration crisis that has been dragging on since 2020, since, through this high plateau area, thousands of people enter clandestinely every day, mostly of Venezuelan nationality.
According to the AFP agency, at least 20 migrants have died, mainly from the cold, trying to enter Chile through clandestine steps located at more than 4,000 meters. Foreigners with adulterated documentation or who evade immigration control will be expelled, but the granting of visas to those who meet the requirements will also be speeded up.