The complex migration crisis that shakes the north of Chile (and how the government deals with it)

The crisis that has worsened in the north of chili it is one more proof of the enormous complexity of the migratory challenge in the region. Delinquency, a state of emergency, the military in the streets and the increase in xenophobia are the most visible ingredients of a phenomenon for which there is no immediate solution.

Although it has been going on for a year, the overflow of migrants it has intensified in the north of the southern neighbor in recent weeks. The increase in crime has sparked popular protests and violent incidents between the local population and migrants.

One of the most tense episodes took place last weekend, when angry truckers blocked major highways in the city of Iquique in protest against the immigration irregular after the death of a colleague in a confusing incident involving two Venezuelan citizens.

The anger and fear reaches many of the residents of that part of the country, who mainly point to the migrants Venezuelans. “I believe that this situation generates mistrust and fear. chili it had always been a calm and safe country“, he says Trade Maggy Roberts, a Peruvian who has lived in Iquique for 13 of her 34 years.

“When I arrived you could walk at 4 am with your cell phone in your hand and nothing happened. Perhaps there were thieves, but it was never as hard as it is now. These days they rob you, they kill you. I have a 12-year-old daughter and I’m even afraid to go out with her. I have Venezuelan friends who entered legally, but lately criminals are mostly entering and the Chilean government does nothing. I hope this ends soon. I left Peru because it was insecure and in the end Chile is coming to the same”, says the compatriot born in Callao.

For his part, Carlos Millán, a Venezuelan political scientist based in chili and diplomatic representative of the National Assembly of Venezuela of Juan Guiadó, affirms that what happens in the north of Chile is “a situation of social friction due to the high level of migration what has Venezuela had”.

government strategy

In response, the government of Sebastián Piñera has decreed a state of emergency that came into force on Wednesday the 16th. The measure, which allows the deployment of the Armed Forces, has already meant that more than 600 soldiers are sent to collaborate with the police in the control of the migration irregular in four provinces in the north of the country, bordering Bolivia and Peru.

The Executive also announced the implementation of the regulations of the new law of migrationswhich seeks to harden the borders and that from now on will allow the so-called “redirections”, deportations without a judicial procedure.

However, the regulations have generated confusion among the security forces that monitor the roads of the altiplano and hundreds of migrants entered in the last hours irregularly to chili through the border town of Colchane, on the border with Bolivia.

Using mainly the Colchane route, thousands of migrantsmostly Venezuelans, have been crossing the southern neighbor since 2020 walking through clandestine steps that confront them with inhospitable landscapes and extreme temperatures.

Roberts comments that the feeling among the population is that militarization is not the solution. “It’s no use. I have friends who are from Colchane and they tell me that the situation remains the same. The migrants irregulars continue to enter and make fun of the military and carabineros”.

“Militarization is not effective. Very simple measures are being taken for very complex problems. The problem of the Venezuelan diaspora is multifactorial and has worsened with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people who were in Colombia or Peru have decided migrate again because they have lost their job as a result of the pandemic and come to chili like an opportunityMillan points out.

But the strong-arm strategy will continue. The Minister of the Interior of chiliRodrigo Delgado, said this Thursday the 17th that the time had come to further close the northern border of the country and did not rule out taking more severe measures, such as a curfew in certain cities and the control of truck traffic to stop traffic migratory.

Between xenophobia and a crisis without a solution

There are not a few experts who ask for new strategies for this crisis that leave aside what has been called the “criminalization of migration”.

The Chilean political scientist Neida Colmenares, director of Political Science at the Central University of Chile, has affirmed that the crisis in the north of chili is the result of bad policy migratory of the government.

“Citizens have been lied to with false ‘solutions’. We must act quickly and responsibly”, he wrote days ago on his Twitter account.

Another serious problem stemming from the crisis is an increase in xenophobia, especially against Venezuelan migrants. According to the Immigration and Immigration Department, in chili there are 1.4 million migrants, and Venezuelans are the most numerous with almost half a million.

Millán asks to remember that for complex issues such as the Venezuelan diaspora there are no unilateral or easy solutions and that those who flee Venezuela do so from an authoritarian regime, from political persecution and from a humanitarian emergency.

“We have to understand that the Venezuelan migration it is a reality and borders as porous as those in South America and that can be easily penetrated generate higher levels of informality and precariousness. We believe that it is important that long-term public migration policies be enacted, that take into account the recommendations of non-governmental organizations and multilateral organizations and that see migration as a contribution and not as a problem.“, it states.

It emphasizes that those who commit crimes must be given the justice established in the rule of law. “We demand justice in these cases, what we do not agree with is that these individual events generate consequences for a community of more than half a million people who live in chili and who contribute to the economy and give their contribution to the country. We also do not agree that this causes stigmatization against Venezuelans”, he points out.

Roberts also regrets that honest Venezuelans pay for those who act badly. “Of course not all Venezuelans who enter the country are bad, but unfortunately they put them all in the same bag. This didn’t happen before,” he says.

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