Chile and Peru agreed on Monday to carry out joint patrols and increase police cooperation to confront the growing migratory flow on their common border, a day after the Peruvian military began deploying to bordering areas after the state of emergency decreed by the government of your country.
The Chilean Foreign Minister, Alberto van Klaveren, held a virtual meeting with his Peruvian counterpart, Hugo de Zela, after the creation of a binational migration cooperation committee.
“It was a very constructive meeting in which we reaffirmed our commitment to continue working together with friendly and neighboring countries on the challenges associated with migration, especially irregular migration,” Van Klaveren said in a video sent to the press.
The newly created committee seeks to remedy the escalation of tension on the northern border of Chilewhich escalated last Friday, when dozens of migrants, mostly Venezuelans, were prevented from entering Peru for not having the necessary papers.
Several came to block the roads due to the long queues and refusals to enter, which occur in the midst of the intensification of Peruvian controls in bordering areas to stop irregular entries and combat crimes associated with human trafficking, smuggling and other criminal activities.
The flow of migrants has increased in recent weeks in view of a very probable victory of the far-right candidate José Antonio Kast in Chile’s presidential elections, on December 14.
“You have 103 days to voluntarily leave” the country, Kast declared last week, speaking to irregular immigrants. He was referring to the time left until March 11, when the new government in Chile will take office.
The far-right is a favorite in the polls for the December 14 runoff, in which he will face the ruling party Jeannette Jara.
On Monday, more than 50 migrants, including women with children in their arms, briefly crossed the binational border and walked more than 300 meters within the territory of Peru to the Peruvian immigration post called Santa Rosa, where were arrested by a small group of police officers.
The Peruvian foreign minister denied the migrants’ entry into Peru, but later interim president José Jerí told the local press that he was waiting for a report from the security forces about “the error” that occurred and the corrective measures.
Jerí said in reference to the migrants, “they have taken advantage of a moment in which they have committed acts that were not foreseen and there has been an immediate response from the forces in the area.”
On Sunday, the Peruvian town of Tacna – bordering Arica, in the extreme north of Chile – was the first to receive reinforcements from the Peruvian military with nearly a hundred troops.
“This will be the first of our borders to be declared an emergency for reasons of irregular migration and citizen security,” Jerí explained when announcing the state of emergency.
The measure has generated concern on the Chilean sidewhere authorities seek to avoid a humanitarian crisis similar to the one that occurred in 2023, when hundreds of migrants were stranded for several weeks in the area.
In its first meeting on Monday, the binational committee agreed to increase coordination between the Carabineros of Chile, the Investigative Police and the National Police of Peru to facilitate “joint actions and better management in immigration and border control matters.”
They also agreed to advance in the implementation of joint patrols and in deepening the exchange of information in order to “strengthen the operational response capacity and police cooperation in areas of common interest.”
Likewise, “immigration verification methodologies” will be implemented to address cases of people in an irregular situation.
However, the Peruvian foreign minister ruled out for now the possibility of generating a humanitarian corridor, as some Chilean parliamentarians proposed, and assured that “people will have to regularly leave Chile before being able to regularly enter Peru.”
“At the moment we have not talked about that possibility and to be frank I see it as quite difficult because this would also imply talking to Ecuador to see if they are willing for these migrants to enter their territory,” Zela said in statements to local radio RPP. The agreements and measures reached on Monday will be reviewed on December 19 in a follow-up meeting of the committee that will initially be held in Tacna, indicated the Chilean Foreign Ministry.