Policy Briefing: Migration Trends and Public Policies in Chile

Reseña de políticas: tendencias migratorias y políticas públicas en Chile

Authors: Liliana Acero & Pablo Zuleta Pastor

MIGRATION FLOWS AND THEORETICAL APPROACH

The International Organization for Migration (IOM, 2021) estimates that as of 2020, the number of international migrants has grown to 281 million, representing 3.6% of the total global population, with the primary countries of origin being Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil. Narrowing the focus, these countries’ prominence in terms of migration has been noticed within Latin America over the last two to three decades. In this region, the pattern of migration flows has changed substantially. Whereas historically, migrants mainly came from Europe (Solimano, 2024), in recent decades, the trend has shifted towards migration within the region (South/South migration) (Salamanca, 2022).

The level of human security experienced by migrants in Latin America is far from sufficient. This insecurity stems from two fundamental causes: the first is related to the complex socioeconomic and emotional situation experienced by migrants due to danger and uncertainty during their transit and arrival. The second is the often-detrimental conditions migrants face in the receiving countries. These relate to government shortcomings when implementing migration policies that could improve their social welfare. In this critical note, differences between two Chilean public policies and relevant migration measures implemented in Chile will be discussed briefly, emphasizing a critical appraisal of the most recent one. This analysis is based upon some key premises in the theoretical model developed by Kattel and Mazzucatto (2018) adapted to the international migration context. It analyses the role of the state’s mission-oriented policies which are formulated to solve concrete problems through social interventions directed to specific objectives, especially within uncertain social contexts.

The drivers of changes are not solely aspects related to politics and the economy but also include social welfare factors. They require building new institutional structures and increased awareness among administrative bureaucracies regarding the conditions of migration and the capacities to address them. The concept of “discursive regularities” of Mulkay (1993) is defined as constructed on the basis of pre-existing sociocultural beliefs that reveal the “interrelated set of background assumptions” (1993, p. 723). This idea is useful for analyzing not only the convergent and divergent policy views but minor variations in the interventions described in official documents and the narratives of the social agents interviewed during ongoing research as well.