Chile confirms a repatriation flight for Venezuelans stranded on the border with Peru

First modification: 05/06/2023 – 14:28

The plane will be sent by the Venezuelan government and will land in the city of Arica, some 2,000 kilometers north of Santiago de Chile. It will pick up migrants waiting on the Chilean side at the Chacalluta border crossing and another group in the Peruvian city of Tacna.

“I want to confirm the arrival of a Venezuelan plane at the Arica airport to pick up a fairly large group of migrants who are just stranded at the border,” Chilean Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren told reporters on Thursday.

The operation will be carried out with a private airline, and not with the Venezuelan public Conviasa. It is part of the ‘Return to the Homeland’ program promoted by the Venezuelan government, according to local authorities.

“It is a first flight, we hope that there may be more flights soon, but that is something that we will have to discuss with our Venezuelan counterpart,” added the Chilean foreign minister, who also underlined “the willingness of the Venezuelan government to seek solutions to the problem of migrants who are on the northern border”.

“My destiny is another”

At the Chacalluta border crossing, the announcement of the plane’s arrival was received with skepticism among Venezuelans. Many of them do not want to return to their country, but to emigrate to another destination. There are also Colombians and Haitians, for whom there is still no solution.

“They talk about a humanitarian flight to Venezuela, but a humanitarian flight is useless for me because I’m going to the United States. Going to Venezuela implies that my documents can be damaged; my rights can be curtailed; because when one arrives there, one is a traitor to the country,” said Marisol Ramírez, 50, a Venezuelan who worked as a janitor in Santiago at the border.

“My destiny is different, I cannot be forced to be there to starve to death in Venezuela. I am outside my country precisely for that, to help my family and get ahead,” she told the ‘AFP’ agency.

But there are also those who got tired of not obtaining papers to be able to work legally in Chile and want to return to Venezuela, especially to be reunited with their families.

“I have never been imprisoned in my country and here, am I going to be imprisoned for working or simply because one does not have papers? It is not logical. So, I decided to go to Venezuela,” says Edumar Briceño, 50, who has been in jail for two years. he does not see his wife or his daughter who stayed in Venezuela.

major breakthrough

For more than two weeks, hundreds of migrants, mainly Venezuelans, have remained on the northern border after leaving Chile after a tightening of immigration controls in the country.

Peru prevents them from passing, alleging lack of documentation. This country also decreed a 60-day state of emergency at its borders and ordered the dispatch of soldiers to reinforce surveillance and face insecurity associated with foreigners, according to President Dina Boluarte.

Chile had already militarized its northern border, in an attempt to control the irregular entry of migrants. Additionally, Congress approved laws that tighten immigration control, such as one that orders the detention of those who do not carry their documentation and another that extends the detention period to be able to manage the expulsion.

Faced with the blockade by the Peruvian authorities, some have crossed through irregular crossings towards the Peruvian border city of Tacna and others have settled on the Chilean side, in the city of Arica.