This October 30th and 31st, the Regional Workshop for the development of guidelines and/or practice guides for the protection of displaced persons between borders in the context of disasters will be held.
The activity, organized jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the South American Conference on Migration, the Platform on Displacement and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), takes place in Santiago with the participation of government authorities from South American countries.
"Chile recognizes the growing importance of this matter. For our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, migration, human mobility and its link with climate change and natural disasters are a priority area of our consular and migration policy", said Ambassador Carlos Appelgren, Director General of Consular Affairs and Immigration. He also stressed that "this has crystallized into concrete efforts to establish a new consular diplomacy, flexible and capable of responding effectively to the challenges of the 21st century".
The representative of the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD), Atle Solberg, also participated, emphasizing that forced displacement related to disasters and natural hazards, including the adverse effects of climate change, is a reality and one of the greatest humanitarian challenges facing States and the international community today.
In his capacity as Technical Secretariat, the representative of IOM, Diego Beltrand, stressed that this initiative is in line with the commitment established in the framework of the Lima Declaration, where it was agreed to promote an International Cooperation Strategy and effective articulation mechanisms in the face of emergencies caused by environmental factors and serious humanitarian conditions.
The meeting also addressed issues such as laws, policies and practices on temporary humanitarian protection of foreigners in the context of disasters, identification of key actors, practices and legal loopholes in protection in South America, among others.
Ambassador Appelgren concluded that, in order to safeguard the integrity of migrants from a human rights perspective, a great effort must be made, of which we must all be a part. In that sense, this Regional Workshop enabled the sharing of experiences and visions regarding a challenge to which the region must respond in a coordinated and concerted manner.