Foreigners in Chile Highlight Mishandling of Migration Crisis by Government and Institutions

The Jesuit Migrant Service (SJM), together with the Ekhos Consultancy, launched the most recent version of the Migrant Voices Survey, an initiative that allows us to know the perceptions and expectations of foreigners living in Chile.
One of the main themes is related to how the government and the various national institutions have coped with migration and social issues. A low percentage of approval can be observed, where only 28% agree on the way in which the Executive has handled migration in Chile.
In the survey, the performance of various institutions was also evaluated, where the Department of Aliens and Migration (DEM) turned out to be one of the worst evaluated, after going from 5.1% to 4.1% compared to the last survey conducted in 2019. In addition, the consulates of their countries in Chile were added, which experienced a decrease of 5% to 3.8%.
Another relevant data points to the perception of migrants about the relationship with the society that receives them, who point out with 49% that there is “a lot” or “a lot” of conflict. a figure that rose by 21% compared to 2019.
Due to the increase, the national director of Jesuit Migrant Service, Waleska Ureta, pointed to mismanagement by authorities who incorrectly report on the immigration process.
“On the one hand, it points to measures and speeches of authorities that mediate the migratory process and label -erroneously- people as ‘illegals’, for the group expulsions that occurred in the middle of the pandemic and that have been strongly criticized by international organizations and even by the Justice,” he said.
“In addition, in times of social crisis, such as the one that has come with the pandemic, perceptions of conflict between receiving communities and migrant communities tend to increase,” he concluded.

Original source in Spanish