RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Migrants will be “exonerated from any sanction or fine” upon regularization, stressed Bolivia’s Minister of Government (Interior), Eduardo Del Castillo, during the announcement.
“There are many Venezuelan, Brazilian, Cuban, and other nationalities in the national territory irregularly”, added the minister. The measure was endorsed by a decree published on August 25.
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“The migratory regularization of foreigners in Bolivian territory in an irregular situation is established on an exceptional basis”, states the Decree signed by president Luis Arce and his ministers. Those interested will have twelve months from the publication of the new norm to apply for residency.
In recent months, authorities have detained hundreds of Haitian citizens crossing Bolivia illegally on their way to Chile, where the community is vast.
Del Castillo clarified that, although these people “are not intended to stay within the territory”, it is necessary “to grant them documentation so that they are not extorted by Bolivians or foreigners, nor by any authority.”
In addition, another decree published the same day obliges transportation operators, travel agencies, and lodging agencies to inform the Bolivian immigration authority about the foreigners using their services.
When asked about the estimated number of illegal migrants entering the Andean country per year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Bolivia stated no data.