USA TODAY International Edition
Affluent Chile draws migrants, but it’s no picnic
Many wind up in slum- like dwellings despite promise of a healthy economy
SANTIAGO, CHILE With six children and two on the way, Rosemary Tello does not have much space left in the single room she rents in a downtown apartment alongside other Peruvian immigrants here.
The landlord built Tello a loft to create more space that she lined wall- to- wall with beds, leaving the common area for her to prepare potatoes and chicken to sell on the corner.
Chile has become more attractive to working immigrants elsewhere in South America because of its stronger economy, but a lack of housing and programs to handle the flood of immigrants force people to cram into overcrowded apartments like Tello’s, or to live in slums or on the streets.
“Even though I’m legal, it’s hard to rent here just because I’m foreign,” said Tello, 30.
Besides Peruvians — like Tello — and Bolivians in search of work, Chile has seen an influx of Venezuelans, who are fleeing economic chaos, and Haitians and Dominicans, who learn about jobs in Santiago through Chile’s continued efforts to help Haiti recover from a devastating earthquake six years ago.
Historically, Chile has been a less appealing destination for South American immigrants than larger neighbors, such as Brazil and Argentina. But the flow of immigrants started to grow after Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship ended in 1990, and the country has experienced a boom since 2010, when its economy became one of the strongest and most stable on the continent, according to the World Economic Forum.
Nearly 360,000 South American immigrants moved to Chile in 2015 through midyear — second only to Argentina, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington, D. C., think tank.
Critics say Chile isn’t prepared to absorb so many people and often violates their human rights as a result.
“We are building ghettos,” said Jorge Sagastume, coordinator for the Chilean branch of the International Organization for Migration, which works with governments around the world to aid migrants. “If those immigrants continue living that way, and their children continue living there, we’re going to have an explosion within a decade.”
Immigrants can send their children to school without proper documents, Sagastume said. They can go to the doctor, and women can seek medical care for pregnancy. But no established policy addresses living conditions.
Chile’s housing law, virtually unchanged since its adoption in 1975, allows the government to regulate private property but not to inspect the premises, meaning there is no way to control the number of tenants.
As a result, owners of houses in older neighborhoods of this capital city divide five- bedroom homes into 10 and rent each one to entire families who crossed the border without documents or overstayed 90- day tourist visas. Families often plan to remain in Chile for the five years needed to obtain legal residency, which would allow them to rent a decent apartment.
The northern mining city of Antofagasta can’t even offer immigrants that tight housing option, as a recent wave of Peruvians and Bolivians has resulted in a housing shortage. Immigrants are pushed onto the outskirts of the city, often lacking proper lighting or water.
There are now 25 slums around Antofagasta, the International Organization for Migration said. The number of immigrants living there has grown 41% over the past five years to nearly 38,700 families, according to the non- profit aid group Techo Chile.
“The government needs to be building lots of social housing, and they aren’t,” said Miguel Yaksic, national director of the Immigrant Jesuit Service in Santiago, which aims to protect the rights and dignity of immigrants in Chile.
Yaksic said Chile’s federal and state institutions have failed to use even their limited authority to regulate the condition of existing homes, let alone pass new legislation to make such oversight easier.
Local governments are trying to fill that void. Santiago’s many municipalities have begun working on an ordinance that would fine houses that fail to meet quality standards and establish a program to help immigrants pay for safe and healthy places to live.
“We care about these people,” said Carlos Muñoz, head of immigration affairs for the Santiago neighborhood of Independencia. “We care about the people that are being used by these property owners and by the system.”