Lima (EFE).- The Peruvian authorities began to review this Friday the situation of migrants who try to enter their territory through the border with Chile, with the deployment of officials from the Superintendence of Migrations who give priority to cases in which that there are children, pregnant women and the elderly.
The officials reached the border, which is monitored by agents of the Peruvian National Police (PNP) to prevent the irregular passage of migrants, and began to attend to groups of 20 people, according to television Channel N.
The PNP agents reviewed and gave priority access to control to people with children, pregnant women and the elderly, whose documents and immigration status began to be reviewed individually.
At the moment it has not been reported if, after this review, the immediate passage of the migrants already reviewed will be allowed or how the procedure will continue.
Prevent illegal entry at the border
At the beginning, there were long queues and there were some complaints from the migrants, but the situation calmed down when several of them asked to respect the priority given to vulnerable people, in addition to being patient after having waited for several days in the area.
This action took place hours after the Minister of the Interior, Vicente Romero, arrived in the Tacna region, on the border with Chile, together with the general commander of the PNP, General Jorge Angulo; and the national superintendent of Migrations, Armando García.
Romero confirmed this Friday on the RPP station the joint surveillance work that the Police will do with the Armed Forces and said that “no illegal entry or aggression against the Police will be allowed.”
“All foreigners who do not have proper documentation to enter the country will be rigorously controlled,” he said.
He reiterated, however, that the foreign ministries of Peru and Chile are working on a proposal to implement a humanitarian corridor, since the intention is to give priority to the rights of people who are stranded in the border area.
After the clashes and illegal entry into Peruvian territory that occurred on Thursday, the situation in the area remained calm this Friday morning, although hundreds of migrants remain in the area.
Support from the Peruvian Armed Forces
Local media showed that on the Peruvian side of the border the presence of PNP agents has been reinforced with members of their special forces, dressed in camouflage suits.
In addition, the deployment of the Armed Forces is expected, which have been authorized to reinforce the work of border control and surveillance carried out by the Police.
The Minister of Defense, Jorge Chávez, remarked that “the Armed Forces will act to ensure compliance with the Security Cards and the regulations between the bordering countries”, although they will be located “from one hundred meters from the border line backwards, establishing the patrols at critical points where the illegal entry of migrants is verified.”
He recalled that the state of emergency decreed this Thursday by the government headed by Dina Boluarte “is not only for the border with Chile, it is also for the borders with Ecuador, Colombia, and the entire border sector, where the Armed Forces will support the PNP to ensure that foreign migrants do not enter the country illegally.
Chile advocates for a humanitarian corridor
The Chilean government said this Friday that it is a “priority” to open a humanitarian corridor for the hundreds of undocumented migrants who have been crowding the northern border for weeks to leave the country for Peru.
“Our objective now is to control the crisis that has been generated on the border, but the main objective is to create a humanitarian corridor from Chile so that these people can return to their country,” said the Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, in a press conference near the border with the neighboring country.
The Chilean Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Gloria de la Fuente, confirmed for her part in the same conference that the Chilean Executive has held meetings with Peruvian authorities to solve the humanitarian crisis on the border, but qualified that a humanitarian corridor still “requires the will of the countries to which migrants want to return.
“We have discussed with the Peruvian government the possibility of creating conditions, either for a humanitarian, air or land corridor, which would also imply having a commitment with other countries in the region, or to seek other solutions,” De la Fuente explained.
Monsalve added that the Chilean government will deploy civil registry points so that migrants can identify themselves before leaving Chile, so that “no person who has committed crimes leaves the country.”
“Most of the people in an irregular situation in Chile want to leave, and they particularly want to return to Venezuela. We need checkpoints to find out their identities and also guarantee humanitarian conditions,” said the Undersecretary of the Interior.
Humanitarian problems that require dialogue
Hundreds of undocumented migrants, the majority of Venezuelan origin, remain on the northern border of Chile waiting for permission from the Chilean authorities to leave the country, which has caused humanitarian problems due to the lack of services and the arid climate of the region.
The conflict between Chile and Peru escalated a week ago, after the mayor of the Peruvian border town of Tacna, Pascual Güisa, called Chilean President Gabriel Boric “irresponsible” and accused his government of “transferring the problem (migratory) to the border”.
The UN spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, asked the governments of Peru and Chile this Friday to “dialogue” to solve the migration problem on their shared border, and was “concerned” about the situation of the hundreds of people who remain blocked in their attempt to leave Chile without water, food or sanitation.
Currently, there are some 1.4 million foreigners residing in Chile, which is equivalent to more than 7% of the population, and Venezuelans are the most numerous, followed by Peruvians, Haitians and Colombians.