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News > Bolivia

Bachelet: Countries Must Allow Safe Return of Its Citizens

  • Hundreds of Bolivian migrants were waiting at the border between Chile and Bolivia to return home, April, 2020.

    Hundreds of Bolivian migrants were waiting at the border between Chile and Bolivia to return home, April, 2020. | Photo: Twitter/@evoespueblo

Published 16 April 2020
Opinion

Michelle Bachelet assured that "everyone has the right to return to their country of origin, despite COVID-19."

Latin American governments must allow the return of their countries' citizens despite the COVID-19, urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, on Thursday.

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Even though the borders of many nations in the world and Latin America are closing, to stop the advance of COVID-19, "everyone has the right to refresh their country of origin," Bachelet said.

Bachelet's statements come in a context of tension, as countries like Bolivia have denied their citizens access to the territory.

The decision of the de facto government of Jeanine Añez in Bolivia left more than 1,000 of her fellow citizens stranded in Chile.

"The governments of the region must guarantee safe, dignified and voluntary returns," the senior official said.

When people try to return to their countries voluntarily, it is the obligation of each government to receive them, and to guarantee access to health," the commissioner added.

If migrants try to return home by land, it means they are poor and vulnerable to disease. "Let us not deny them the right to return to their homes and families. Bachelet concluded.

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