Hundreds of migrants, primarily Venezuelans, are hoping to cross into Peru to escape Chile’s strict entry rules and rising xenophobia. Guard.
Now the people are gathered in the Chilean desert. A Pacific breeze stirs makeshift shelters made from blankets and scraps of cloth, and the sun’s glare makes migrants squint as they endure the blowing sand overhead.
This stark stretch of the Atacama Desert has hosted hundreds of immigrants, mostly Venezuelans, for days and in some cases weeks, yearning to enter Peru across the border.
Yet the same border that many have already crossed is now sealed in the opposite direction. Peruvian police stand in the desert beside a sign that reads “Welcome to Chile” in English, Spanish and Aymara, signaling tightened entry controls.
Chile’s foreign ministry announced that 115 Venezuelans were repatriated on a humanitarian flight. But many of their compatriots face a dilemma, as other migrants include Haitians, Colombians and Ecuadorians. Diplomatic tensions are rising, and anti-Venezuela sentiment is growing in parts of Chile.
More families are arriving at the boundary, turning the Chilean desert into a sprawling makeshift camp where mothers nursing babies and children wait among piles of luggage.
One migrant told reporters that economic life in Chile had been promising, but longing for family and plans to return home persisted. He had saved money by working at a fast food restaurant and had been preparing a trip home since the previous year.
He described conditions in a temporary camp near the border, noting the lack of water and sanitation and questioning how people could endure such circumstances without basic amenities.
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte declared a state of emergency at Peru’s borders in April and dispatched hundreds of soldiers to reinforce border police along the southern frontier.
In recent years, more than 7 million Venezuelans have fled violence, economic collapse, and political repression, dispersing across the Americas in one of the region’s largest mass migrations. Xenophobia has been rising in neighboring countries, and some regional politicians have pursued hardline anti-immigration stances, amplifying the strain on host communities and governments alike.