Anti-foreigners march in Chile: the shocking stories of Venezuelans

On Saturday September 25, a violent demonstration in Chile against the immigrant population ended with beatings and arson of the property of groups of Venezuelans living on the streets in poverty and now they are left with nothing, fearing that these acts will be repeated with more violence in the country they preside Sebastien Piñera.

The information network BBC gathered the testimonies of many affected Venezuelans, who told their stories, mostly young people who escaped the well-known crisis in their country of origin.

“They threw stones, bottles, everything at us. And people, instead of helping, recorded with their phones; it was like a spectacle for them. We feel humiliated, treated like animals, like garbage, ”says Bryan, 21, who entered the country irregularly from the small town of Colchane, located a few kilometers from the border with Bolivia.

He came to look for work before the “unbearable” situation of Venezuela, but in Chile he found a reality that is far from what he dreamed of, and he has lived for a month on the streets, without work and even expelled by the police from his tent where he slept in a public square in the city of ‘Iquique, in northern Chile.

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“I was very scared, I only had what I was wearing,” Bryan described, describing what the anti-alien march was.

Migration crisis in Chile

The foreign population has grown from 305 thousand in 2010 (which corresponded to 1.8% of the total Chilean population) to nearly 1, 5 millions in 2020 (7.5% of the population), according to the organization Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes (SJM), which collected data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) and the Department of Immigration and Migration of Chile.

This is partly explained by the sharp increase in Venezuelan immigration, which has grown from a community of eight thousand members. in 2012 to half a million in 2020. According to INE estimates, Venezuelans constitute the largest group of foreigners in Chile (30.5%), followed by Peruvians (15.8%) and Haitians (12.5%).

“I understand that Chileans have their laws and I respect them, pBut many immigrants are desperate because, for example, not everyone has 500 pesos (50 cents) to pay for public toilets. I prefer to buy food with this money and give it to the children instead of spending it in a bathroom, ”explained another foreigner interviewed by the BBC who answered the question due to the lack of containment for the general mass. foreigners who have arrived in the country.

“We know that we annoy being in the street. I don’t like sleeping in the street either, it’s ugly, there is a lot of xenophobia, people don’t like us”, adds Bryan. . “What happens is that we need money to pay for a room. And besides, they often tell you, ‘Are you Venezuelan? No, I can’t rent you.’ So they don’t help us, ”he added. he added.

JD / CP