Under migratory pressure, Chile sends the army to the borders of Peru and Bolivia

The border customs office in Colchane, Chile, near Pisiga, Bolivia, in March 2022. On February 27, 2023, Chile begins the deployment of the army to protect its borders in the north with the aim of controlling the entry migrants through unauthorized crossings.

AFP - JORGE BERNAL

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

For several months, Chile has been facing a strong migratory wave and is struggling to control it.

Congress has approved a law to deploy the armed forces in these territories in tension, bordering Peru and Bolivia.

In the far north, the military will be authorized to carry out identity checks, searches of vehicles and luggage, or to make arrests.

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With our correspondent in Santiago,

Naïla Derroisné

The regions of Arica, Tarapacá and Antofagasta are concerned.

They share more than 1,000 kilometers of borders with Peru and Bolivia, and have been facing strong migration for several months, Venezuelans and Colombians crossing the border illegally.

There, the local elected officials distraught in the face of this massive arrival remain skeptical about the deployment of the army.

They believe that the military will not be able to curb the wave of migration, but that it may be used to strengthen security.

Because delinquency and crimes are increasing in the great Chilean north.

In Tarapacá, in particular, where the number of murders has doubled in the space of four years.

The prosecutor of this region attributes them to foreign criminal gangs with completely different operating methods from Chilean gangs.

He calls, however, not to fall into xenophobic discourse.

Because according to him, the main problem today is the transnational mafias, who take advantage of the migratory flow to penetrate Chilean soil.

►Also read: Bolivia and Chile end their dispute over the Silala River

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  • Chile

  • International Migrations

  • Peru

  • Bolivia

  • Colombia

  • Venezuela