Church in Chile collaborates with state agencies to solve refugee problem

The Catholic Church in Chile has teamed up with civil and state institutions to help young people, the elderly, and children who migrate to the South American country in search of a better future but who are often treated with unwelcome laws, forced repatriation and disdain.

"Let us remember that the person is the center of every political action, of every social action. We think we can shed some light on this sector, so that Chile is a welcoming country, but also one that integrates. Because it is not enough to welcome, it is necessary to integrate," said Archbishop Fernando Chomali of Concepcion, who led a recent meeting with representatives from the Migration Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Office of Religious Affairs, Caritas Chile, the Catholic Institute for Migrants, the Jesuit Migrant Service and the Conference of Religious.

According to the Chilean Catholic bishops’ website, Church institutions are advocating to help migrants from various South American nationalities -- Venezuelans, Peruvians and Haitians mostly -- access constitutionally guaranteed rights and navigate the country’s new "inflexible" Migration Law that provides for stricter border controls and accelerates repatriations.

Combating increasing instances of intolerance

Archbishop Chomali said all dioceses in Chile have a pastoral care program to "welcome defenseless people, without documents, without the possibility of including themselves into society” but that for some time now, Church organizations working with migrants and communities that host them have to also deal with increasing instances of intolerance and xenophobia perpetrated on those seeking refuge.  

“We are talking about young people, the elderly, and above all children and many of them who unfortunately have no country, do not have a birth certificate and we can offer a contribution according to the Gospel, the social doctrine of the Church, because the Lord tells us 'I was a foreigner and you welcomed me," Archbishop Chomali said, Fides reported. 

The archbishop called for the need to support communities where large number of migrants arrive, a greater coordination among state agencies to facilitate procedures, as well as to move forward in a migration policy that allows for the search for faster regularization. 

Chile is undergoing a new look at its migration policy ever since the country recently elected its youngest president, Gabriel Boric, 36, a left-leaning former student leader. Boric had vowed that his government will tackle the issue of immigration and a new Migration Law was enacted in April 2021.

Pandemic reinforces vulnerability

Chile is one of South America's most economically advanced countries, attractive to migrants. Influx of refugees from crisis-ridden Venezuela has led to large-scale influx that in recent years has shaken the country's politics. Venezuelans travelling to Chile have to traverse the grueling Atacama Desert, the driest and highest plateau in the world, with temperatures dropping below minus 10 degrees Celsius. There is also the risk of robbery and sexual exploitation by criminal groups. Irregular migration is not new to Chile, but from 2010 to July 2021 the number has multiplied by 57, from 415 to more than 23,000 people. 

The COVID-19 pandemic was only worsened the situation. “It is not a mystery that migrants often must face discrimination, poor living conditions, social exclusion, informal and precarious employment, among other issues that, in this current pandemic context, reinforces their condition of vulnerability,” according to an article in SAGE Public Health Emergency Collection.  “The greatest threat to migrants is invisibility and discrimination by Chilean society. Why? because until now, the government policies and actions established to face the social and economic effects of the pandemic, apparently do not intend to include the entire migrant population,” say authors of that report.

Migrants accounted for just 1 percent of Chile's population in 1992, but since then it is nearly 1.5 million immigrants comprising nearly 9 percent of the country's population." As of July 2022, there were approximately 127,000 migrants who entered Chile through irregular crossing, according to estimates by Chilean authorities. “By its very nature, it is impossible to know for sure", says the Jesuit Migrant Service. 

The National Migration Service of Chile records 1,482,390 foreigners, as of 31 December 2021, the latest data available.