Faced with the humanitarian crisis that worsens every day on the border between Chile and Peru, both governments are evaluating with Ecuador and Venezuela the creation of a humanitarian corridor. However, humanitarian organizations, which had already proposed such a corridor, fear that the information collected between borders and borders will serve to record migrants.
The prohibition of the free transit of the 150 migrants who have been stranded for 15 days between the border of Peru and Chile, could find a solution if a humanitarian corridor is launched. Manuel Monsalve, Chilean Undersecretary of the Interior, reported that the Chilean government will implement a series of measures to address this humanitarian crisis.
One of the measures will be the creation of offices that collect migrant information. “People who are in an irregular situation can register their footprint, their face and their name,” said the official.
“All voices must be heard”
However, humanitarian organizations fear that this data will be used to file migrants and prevent their return. The spokesperson for the National Network of Migrant and Pro-Migrant Organizations, Lorena Zambrano, expressed concern about this identity registration measure and asked governments to take humanitarian associations into account when discussing solutions, since until now their proposals have been ignored in decision-making
“We continue to see with great alarm that these issues continue to be discussed as a state body as if the social organizations that are on the ground every day, had nothing to contribute. […] The people who are regularized and belong to these spaces should also have the right to voice and vote. We have things to propose and offer”.
On May 7, Chileans will vote to elect the Constitutional Council. Could the immigration crisis influence these elections?
“Unfortunately, xenophobia and racism have increased, especially when migration continues to be taken as a political axis, in scenes prior to voting. We have seen with fear how the figures are released when in real life, the crime rate of migration is very low.
