Chile conducts its largest migrant deportation in 2021

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – National Migration Service director Álvaro Bellolio said that organizations are trying to stop these deportations, but the “State of Chile and the Ministry of the Interior are complying with the law” and those who “commit crimes or enter illegally” will be expelled.

According to official information, most of the deported were Venezuelan (more than 70) and were sent back to their country of origin for not having entered Chile regularly or for having committed crimes ranging from migrant trafficking to homicide, including robbery with intimidation.

Over 800 people were deported on 7 separate flights in 2021 based on a new stricter migration law that conservative Sebastián Piñera enacted in April under the slogan “getting the house in order.” The deportations have been harshly criticized by various pro-migrant and human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the United Nations, which alerted to serious violations of fundamental rights.

HRW denounced summary deportations on weekends (when appellate courts are closed), obstacles to access telephone calls or attorneys, and separation of families, among others. The Supreme Court overturned several deportation orders in recent months on the grounds that they were the result of “inadequate administrative proceedings,” but in virtually all cases this annulment was subsequent to deportation.

Government officials point out that in recent months the criteria and protocols for deportation have been improved and finalized with the court, and assure that they only apply to the new immigration law. This new regulation is a way for the government to “organize” the situation of migrants who, despite the pandemic and the social crisis that broke out in 2019, continue to see Chile as one of Latin America’s most attractive countries to migrate to due to its political and economic stability.

It is estimated that Chile is home to some 1.4 million migrants – equivalent to 7% of the population – with the Venezuelan community being the largest, around 450,000 people, followed by Peruvians and Haitians.

Source: Efe