The government of Chile announced the arrival this weekend of a group of 67 individuals “with close ties to Chile” from the Gaza strip.
Chile’s Foreign Ministry detailed in a brief Saturday statement that the decision to take in the 67 refugees, including 36 children and teenagers, is part of the South American country’s “firm commitment to international humanitarian law and was made possible thanks to a coordinated effort by the government with the collaboration of various international organizations.”
“The evacuation began on September 10 with the group’s transfer by land and then by air. Throughout the process, they were accompanied and assisted by consular and diplomatic personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the statement read.
“Upon their arrival in Chile, the corresponding entry controls were carried out and the State’s protection network was activated in accordance with the international and legal obligations that our country has undertaken,” the text continued. “No further details will be provided about their stay in the country in order to protect the families’ right to privacy.”
Chilean far-left President Gabriel Boric celebrated the announcement in a brief social media post in which he claimed that the group’s lives “were in danger due to the ongoing genocide.”
“Chile lives up to its national anthem,” Boric said.
Similar to Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, and the authoritarian regimes of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, Boric — who is presently in the final months of his administration and is set to leave office in March 2026 — stands among the Latin American heads of state who have condemned Israel the most over its self defense operations against the jihadist terror group Hamas after the October 7 terrorist attack.
In June, during his term’s final speech to Congress, Boric accused Israel of committing an “ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people” and called upon Chilean lawmakers to pass legislation to boycott Israeli goods, stressing that the measure is “neither commercial nor symbolic, but one of principle.”
Days later, reports published by local outlets claimed that Boric refused to answer a phone call from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to address concerns over the Chilean government’s stance on Israel.
In June 2024, Boric had Chile join South Africa’s “genocide” case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a decision widely condemned by the Latin American branch of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish global human rights organization.
Boric has maintained an open anti-Israel stance since before he took office as president in 2022, with one such notable instance taking place in October 2019 when the Jewish community sent a then-Congressman Boric a jar of honey commemorating the Jewish New Year.
Boric publicly “appreciated” the gift but suggested that the Jewish civil society organization “could begin by asking Israel to return the illegally occupied Palestinian territory.”
The Palestinian Community of Chile reportedly celebrated the arrival of the Gaza individuals to the country as a “gesture of humanity that we deeply appreciate” amid what they described as a “genocide sweeping through Gaza, where thousands of people have been killed and millions are surviving in inhumane conditions.” The organization also stated that it will accompany the refugees taken in by Chile while continuing to work “tirelessly for the end of the occupation, justice, and the return of all our people to Palestine.”
Shortly after the Chilean Foreign Ministry announced the arrival of the group, Radio Bío Bío reported on Saturday that, based on documentation issued by the Chilean Foreign Ministry and the National Migration Service (Sermig) reviewed by the outlet, the Chilean government is arranging for the arrival of 113 refugees from “Middle Eastern conflict zones” as part of a “humanitarian” process between the Foreign, Interior, and Women Ministries alongside other government entities.
“Among those who will be welcomed into the country are 76 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, 34 Syrian citizens, and three Afghan women,” Bío Bío’s report read. “In the letter, the Foreign Ministry specified that 53 safe-conduct passes will be issued to Palestinian refugees, along with temporary residence visas to allow them to enter the country.”
“In addition, the letter indicates that a request has been made to exempt all these people from paying consular fees, in accordance with the provisions of the Migration and Foreigners Act, given the humanitarian nature of the process,” the report continued.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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