In Chile, Venezuelans outside their embassy to request their repatriation

Venezuelan nationals camp outside their embassy in Santiago, Chile to request their return. Martin BERNETTI / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

They left their country because of the very deep economic crisis that their country is going through, because of insecurity too. Unemployed because of the coronavirus pandemic, nearly 200 Venezuelan immigrants to Chile are camping today in front of their embassy in Santiago to request humanitarian repatriation, despite the difficult economic and health situation.

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With our correspondent in Santiago de Chile,Justine Fontaine

Surrounded by piles of suitcases and makeshift mattresses, Hanleidi Acosta, 20, arrived in front of the embassy a little less than a week ago, with her companion and stepmother. "  Because of the health crisis, many companies have closed or laid off staff, " she says. This is what happened to us. So we no longer had enough to pay our rent, food ... And that's why we decided to come here. "

In the next street, a church gives them access to toilets, two cabins for more than 200 people, and a room where the elderly, children and pregnant women can sleep.

Waiting for a flight chartered by Caracas

Ander Perosa, 39, worked as a pump attendant in Santiago. He doesn't even have a mattress to sleep on. "  Do you see this card?" This is where I sleep, he explains. We want to return to our country, to be with our family. "

Without resources and with closed borders, these migrants hope that the Venezuelan government will charter planes to repatriate them. A flight has already left last week, organized by the government of Nicolas Maduro as part of the plan “return to the homeland” launched several months ago in reaction to the mass exodus of Venezuelans fleeing the economic crisis in their country .

►Read also: Coronavirus: Venezuelan refugees leave Colombia to return to the country

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  • Chile
  • Venezuela
  • Coronavirus
  • Immigration

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