The troops will support the police in the border crossings with Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia, in a decision that according to the government is also aimed at confronting transnational crime.
“The national police will maintain control of internal order with the support of the armed forces”Boluarte emphasized at a press conference with several ministers.
In principle The state of emergency will come into effect from this Thursdayalthough the Executive has not specified its duration or if rights are going to be restricted at border points.
Defense Minister Jorge Chávez specified that The measure has the “purpose” of preventing “irregular and illegal entry” of migrants to Peruvian territory.
“Every citizen has to enter through immigration posts. The support of the armed forces will be to the police according to the state of emergency, ”he added.
Hundreds of migrants who left Chile have been crowding together for weeks at the border crossing between the Peruvian city of Tacna and the Chilean city of Arica, where the Peruvian authorities prevent them from passing.
The migrants are trapped between Chilean and Peruvian police who are guarding the border point, 1,500 km south of Lima. ANDhe Peruvian government had already sent 200 police officers to reinforce immigration controls, that before had hardened Chile.
“An average of 150 to 200 people” have gathered daily at this border crossing in recent days, Federico Agusti, representative in Peru of the UN refugee office (UNHCR), told AFP on Friday.
The entrance Peru militarizes its borders before the arrival of undocumented migrants was first published on newspaper TODAY.
