The chancellor, Teodoro Ribera, spoke for the plight of Chileans stranded in Southeast Asia in the wake of the health crisis, arguing that “they are people who in one way or another took a greater risk.” With regard to compatriots stranded in India, he explained that India “is in quarantine and inland there is a confinement of people.”
According to Emol, the foreign minister argued that “this creates a very complex situation, we have a number of Chileans in India, about 90 people, who are scattered, but we are seeing what actions can be taken. We are very complicated by the fact that many of them, knowing the international situation, have traveled to such a distant country.”
In this regard, Ribera noted that “we continue to draw deep attention that, even though there are humanitarian flights for the return of Chileans abroad, many people sign up and ultimately do not show up at the airport and cause the quotas to be lost available.”
“In the case of a plane that now arrived from Ecuador with 97 nationals, about twenty-nine people signed up and eventually did not occupy the tickets and caused them to be lost. We don’t find this situation logical and we are deeply sorry for this,” he added.
Finally, Ribera noted that “we are reaching a final stage of transfers and people who do not want to return to Chile is because they have other activities, but what happened for us is a very serious situation, because there is media mobilization, there is procedures, there are planes that are available and are eventually lost.” and reported that “between 18 March and 1 April, more than 30 Chileans and 10,000 foreign residents have entered Chile, which has been possible because the chancellery has managed to keep open the air routes that may have been closed.”
