Waleska Ureta, director of the Jesuit Migrant Service (JSM), told the cooperativa.cl news portal that they have warned for the fourth time that the Government is detaining people to expel them collectively without due process, and added that ‘we are collecting information from each one of them to present appeals for protection’.

The official recalled that the UN has demanded that the Chilean government stop the processes of collective expulsions for lack of adherence to human rights, and called on society not to accept the collective expulsions of people ‘who deserve fair processes and dignified treatment.’

According to the JSM, at least 25 migrants were detained by the Investigative Police for this purpose in recent days to be transferred to the north of the country, from where they will be expelled from the country.

For her part, the Ombudsman for Children, Patricia Muñoz, wrote on Twitter calling to protect the best interests of children and adolescents and said she hoped that appeals for protection presented by organizations would be accepted to stop this policy that violates human rights.

The news portal also indicated that the National Human Rights Institute filed four appeals for asylum in favor of some of the migrants, alleging in those cases the principle of ‘family reunification.’

A new migration law came into force this year through which the government seeks to ‘put order in the house’ in the words of President Sebastian Piñera, and which plans to face the illegal entry of foreigners into the country and expedite their expulsion.

pgh/llp/oda/rc