"Foreign Ministry will help an important group of Chileans who need to return from Venezuela."
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Ampuero, confirmed that an airplane of the Air Force that will travel to Haiti in the framework of the "Humanitarian Return Plan", will bring back Chileans who are living in Venezuela and have decided to return to Chile, due to the complex humanitarian crisis that this last country faces.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will help an important group of Chileans who need to return from Venezuela. Due to the serious difficulties they face to live there, they want to return to our country and we will help them to return to Chile," said the Foreign Minister, adding that this return "will take place between the third and fourth week of November".
Through the Program to Strengthen Consular and Immigration Policy, the Foreign Ministry receives requests from Chileans living abroad who are in a vulnerable situation. The requirements for returning to Chile are: that they do not have the means to return on their own, that they have the will to return and that their family or someone close to them in Chile commits to support them in their settling in national territory after their return.
In this regard, the Secretary of State explained that "this is part of one of the tasks that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has always carried out, that is, to support and provide assistance to Chileans who are abroad and who, facing problems and a situation of extreme vulnerability, request help from our embassies and consulates to return to Chile".
This year the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already helped 75 Chileans to return and currently there are more than 200 requests from Chileans who want to return to the country. "The situation in Venezuela is, without a doubt, special. The serious humanitarian crisis has triggered the number of requests from Chileans who want to return. We estimate that the first flight with returning Chileans should accommodate about half of that group," the minister said.
Regarding the use of the plane used in the "Humanitarian Return Plan," the foreign minister said that "it is a great opportunity, not only because we will be able to bring a large group at once, but also because doing so reduces the costs that would have meant bringing more than 200 Chileans individually, one by one.