Government of Chile confirms that it will carry out expulsion flights for irregular immigrants

The Minister of the Interior and Public Security of Chile, Carolina Tohá, confirmed this Wednesday the carrying out of expulsion flights for immigrants in an irregular situation on Air Force (FACH) trips and commercial airplanes.

“In migratory flows, especially when they are massive, people who come with a criminal agenda and in this case also criminal organizations get in the way and in the face of that you cannot be naive,” said Toh, when asked about the need to carry out expulsions. .

“In that case, a deal cannot be made only with the view of migration, a deal must be made with the view of the security, integrity and protection of the country,” added the Secretary of State.

During the last few days, the Government of Gabriel Boric has been pressured by opposition to expel 12,000 irregular immigrants before the end of the year, line that was criticized by the president himself by pointing out that it is “materially impossible.”

In an interview with Radio Duna, the head of the Interior Ministry detailed the course that the expulsions will follow, an action that contemplates an injection of 1.4 billion pesos (about 1.5 million dollars) for two commercial flights and one of the FACH towards Venezuela and Colombia or the Dominican Republic.

“The issue is that international law requires that for each person who is expelled there are two police officers who escort them. So, this actually has very important costs, because you have to pay for those tickets as well, and it distracts officials,” Tohá explained.

“That is not an obstacle to expelling. In all this time we have not been limited by resources or officials, what limits us are the requirements that are so complex,” he added.

According to data provided by the Investigative Police (PDI) to the Responsible Migration Observatory last September, Almost 35,000 people entered Chile irregularly from January to August of this year, projecting to exceed 50,000 by the end of the period.

Irregular migration is not a new phenomenon in Chile, but from 2010 to 2021 the number shot up exponentially.

Since 2021, Chile has been experiencing a migration crisis that mainly affects the northern regions, which have collapsed small border towns such as Colchane, where dozens of people have died in recent years trying to enter through clandestine routes.

EFE