Hundreds of immigrants, mostly Venezuelans, are hoping to cross into Peru to escape Chile’s strict immigration rules and growing xenophobia. Guard.
Now people are in the Chilean desert. A wind from the Pacific Ocean blows up makeshift tents made of blankets and scraps of cloth, and shelter migrants squint at the whipped sand and the scorching sun overhead.
This desolate section of the Atacama Desert has hosted hundreds of immigrants, mostly Venezuelans, for days and in some cases weeks, hoping to cross the border into Peru.
But the same border that many migrants have already crossed is now tightly closed in the opposite direction. Shielded Peruvian police line up in the desert next to a sign that reads “Welcome to Chile” in English, Spanish and Aymara.
Chile’s foreign ministry said 115 Venezuelans were repatriated on a humanitarian flight. But many of its compatriots face a dilemma. Other immigrants include Haitians, Colombians and Ecuadorians. There are mounting diplomatic tensions and growing anti-Venezuela sentiment in Chile.
More families are coming to the border, and the desert on the Chilean side is turning into a sprawling refugee camp where families, including nursing mothers and babies, wait amongst piles of luggage.
One of the immigrants told reporters: “We were doing well economically in Chile, but we missed our family and always planned to return home.” He saved money by working at a fast food restaurant and had been planning a trip home since last year.
He described the situation in a makeshift camp near the border: “No water, no toilets, how can people be here?”
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte declared a state of emergency at Peru’s borders in April and sent hundreds of soldiers to the southern border to reinforce the police force.
In recent years, more than 7 million Venezuelans have fled violence, economic crisis, and political repression and dispersed to the Americas in one of the region’s largest mass exoduses in recent years. Xenophobia is on the rise in neighboring countries, and right-wing politicians in the region are embracing anti-immigration, the newspaper writes.