AMERICA/CHILE - The new authorities must conceive migration "as a human reality which demands protection and not exclusion"

Friday, 3 December 2021 emigration   local churches   human rights   laws  

Santiago (Agenzia Fides) - "In this election period, and in the face of the implementation of new immigration legislation, we are concerned that the person is not seen as the axis of the law, but that the migration is associated with the issue of security to limit the mobility of people or for electoral purposes ". This is indicated in the document drafted at the end of the national meeting of delegates to the pastoral care of human mobility from all over Chile and of the Chilean Catholic Institute for Migration, INCAMI, which took place from November 30 to December 2. The text, signed on behalf of all the delegates by Mgr Moisés Atisha Contreras, Bishop of San Marcos de Arica, President of INCAMI, underlines: "we see with concern the situations experienced by migrants, who come to our country in search of better living conditions for themselves and for their families, or who are fleeing situations of insecurity, but who do not find the conditions for a dignified integration process or see situations of vulnerability worsening". The public declaration, sent to Agenzia Fides, reiterates the demand for an integration process for people already residing in Chile, which "guarantee the possibility of accessing rights such as family reunification and children's rights, creating bridges and not walls between people". Calling for "defined and transparent migration management and communication processes", the text also hopes that "the new administration will see migration as a human reality which, in our context, requires protection and not exclusion".
The digitization of immigration procedures has not improved the management of work permits and visas, which "is becoming increasingly long and bureaucratic", they stress. The vulnerability in which people from Venezuela and Haiti may find themselves is of concern, given that they include children, many of whom were born in Chile. The situation of boys and girls who are currently traveling to the continent with people other than their parents or legal guardians, with a view to their reunification in Chile, is also worrying. Finally, it is requested to "review and evaluate the application of the legislation on refugees (20.430) to ensure the protection of those who request it, by facilitating access, at least on request. People who enter without authorization are a source of concern, not only because of their migratory irregularity and the difficulty of changing this situation, but also because of the expulsions to which they are exposed". (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 3/12/2021)


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