Mención Honrosa Prensa Reportajes
A Venezuelan migrant child raises a toy at the police after her family was told to break up the camp along the seashore where they are living in El Morro, a neighborhood of Iquique, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A merciless sun seared the migrants as they walked through one of the driest places in the world, trying to illegally cross the border from Bolivia into Chile.
Many of those who arrive on foot braving the Atacama Desert are Venezuelans looking for a better life.
Only 14% of visas requested by Venezuelans were approved in 2021. The Comptroller's Office recently forced the Chilean Foreign Ministry to review the denials of family reunification visas for Venezuelans.
The border has been guarded for months by the police and the army, though migrants cross using different paths in the desert in plain sight. The border area was empty until few years ago. Now it looks like the transit area of a train terminal.
Once in Chilean territory, migrants are not detained. Some keep walking to the closest city while others turn themselves in to authorities so they can start a process that might help them to regularize their immigration status.
The U.N. International Organization for Migration estimates there are almost 1.7 million immigrants in Chile. In 2021 Chilean authorities registered more than 25,000 people arriving through the Atacama Desert, a significant increase compared to the 16,500 for all 2020.
Migrants cross a stream after crossing into Chile from Bolivia, near Colchane, Chile, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A merciless sun seared the migrants as they walked through one of the driest places in the world, trying to illegally cross the border from Bolivia into Chile.
Many of those who arrive on foot braving the Atacama Desert are Venezuelans looking for a better life.
Only 14% of visas requested by Venezuelans were approved in 2021. The Comptroller's Office recently forced the Chilean Foreign Ministry to review the denials of family reunification visas for Venezuelans.
The border has been guarded for months by the police and the army, though migrants cross using different paths in the desert in plain sight. The border area was empty until few years ago. Now it looks like the transit area of a train terminal.
Once in Chilean territory, migrants are not detained. Some keep walking to the closest city while others turn themselves in to authorities so they can start a process that might help them to regularize their immigration status.
The U.N. International Organization for Migration estimates there are almost 1.7 million immigrants in Chile. In 2021 Chilean authorities registered more than 25,000 people arriving through the Atacama Desert, a significant increase compared to the 16,500 for all 2020.
Venezuelan migrant Jose Rodriguez kisses his wife as they line up to board a government bus to Iquique, at a government camp after crossing into Chile from Bolivia, Chile, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A merciless sun seared the migrants as they walked through one of the driest places in the world, trying to illegally cross the border from Bolivia into Chile.
Many of those who arrive on foot braving the Atacama Desert are Venezuelans looking for a better life.
Only 14% of visas requested by Venezuelans were approved in 2021. The Comptroller's Office recently forced the Chilean Foreign Ministry to review the denials of family reunification visas for Venezuelans.
The border has been guarded for months by the police and the army, though migrants cross using different paths in the desert in plain sight. The border area was empty until few years ago. Now it looks like the transit area of a train terminal.
Once in Chilean territory, migrants are not detained. Some keep walking to the closest city while others turn themselves in to authorities so they can start a process that might help them to regularize their immigration status.
The U.N. International Organization for Migration estimates there are almost 1.7 million immigrants in Chile. In 2021 Chilean authorities registered more than 25,000 people arriving through the Atacama Desert, a significant increase compared to the 16,500 for all 2020.
Venezuelan migrants line up to enter a government camp after crossing into Chile from Bolivia, in Colchane, Chile, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A merciless sun seared the migrants as they walked through one of the driest places in the world, trying to illegally cross the border from Bolivia into Chile.
Many of those who arrive on foot braving the Atacama Desert are Venezuelans looking for a better life.
Only 14% of visas requested by Venezuelans were approved in 2021. The Comptroller's Office recently forced the Chilean Foreign Ministry to review the denials of family reunification visas for Venezuelans.
The border has been guarded for months by the police and the army, though migrants cross using different paths in the desert in plain sight. The border area was empty until few years ago. Now it looks like the transit area of a train terminal.
Once in Chilean territory, migrants are not detained. Some keep walking to the closest city while others turn themselves in to authorities so they can start a process that might help them to regularize their immigration status.
The U.N. International Organization for Migration estimates there are almost 1.7 million immigrants in Chile. In 2021 Chilean authorities registered more than 25,000 people arriving through the Atacama Desert, a significant increase compared to the 16,500 for all 2020.
A Venezuelan migrant holds his dog as he tries to hitch a ride to Iquique, on a highway between Huara and Colchane, Chile, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A merciless sun seared the migrants as they walked through one of the driest places in the world, trying to illegally cross the border from Bolivia into Chile.
Many of those who arrive on foot braving the Atacama Desert are Venezuelans looking for a better life.
Only 14% of visas requested by Venezuelans were approved in 2021. The Comptroller's Office recently forced the Chilean Foreign Ministry to review the denials of family reunification visas for Venezuelans.
The border has been guarded for months by the police and the army, though migrants cross using different paths in the desert in plain sight. The border area was empty until few years ago. Now it looks like the transit area of a train terminal.
Once in Chilean territory, migrants are not detained. Some keep walking to the closest city while others turn themselves in to authorities so they can start a process that might help them to regularize their immigration status.
The U.N. International Organization for Migration estimates there are almost 1.7 million immigrants in Chile. In 2021 Chilean authorities registered more than 25,000 people arriving through the Atacama Desert, a significant increase compared to the 16,500 for all 2020.
Venezuelan migrants try to catch candy thrown from a Christmas truck as they stand outside their tents, where they live in Iquique streets, Chile, Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A merciless sun seared the migrants as they walked through one of the driest places in the world, trying to illegally cross the border from Bolivia into Chile.
Many of those who arrive on foot braving the Atacama Desert are Venezuelans looking for a better life.
Only 14% of visas requested by Venezuelans were approved in 2021. The Comptroller's Office recently forced the Chilean Foreign Ministry to review the denials of family reunification visas for Venezuelans.
The border has been guarded for months by the police and the army, though migrants cross using different paths in the desert in plain sight. The border area was empty until few years ago. Now it looks like the transit area of a train terminal.
Once in Chilean territory, migrants are not detained. Some keep walking to the closest city while others turn themselves in to authorities so they can start a process that might help them to regularize their immigration status.
The U.N. International Organization for Migration estimates there are almost 1.7 million immigrants in Chile. In 2021 Chilean authorities registered more than 25,000 people arriving through the Atacama Desert, a significant increase compared to the 16,500 for all 2020.
View of squatters homes at La Mula neighborhood of Alto Hospicio, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A merciless sun seared the migrants as they walked through one of the driest places in the world, trying to illegally cross the border from Bolivia into Chile.
Many of those who arrive on foot braving the Atacama Desert are Venezuelans looking for a better life.
Only 14% of visas requested by Venezuelans were approved in 2021. The Comptroller's Office recently forced the Chilean Foreign Ministry to review the denials of family reunification visas for Venezuelans.
The border has been guarded for months by the police and the army, though migrants cross using different paths in the desert in plain sight. The border area was empty until few years ago. Now it looks like the transit area of a train terminal.
Once in Chilean territory, migrants are not detained. Some keep walking to the closest city while others turn themselves in to authorities so they can start a process that might help them to regularize their immigration status.
The U.N. International Organization for Migration estimates there are almost 1.7 million immigrants in Chile. In 2021 Chilean authorities registered more than 25,000 people arriving through the Atacama Desert, a significant increase compared to the 16,500 for all 2020.
Un sol implacable abrasa a los migrantes mientras caminan por uno de los lugares más secos del mundo, tratando de cruzar ilegalmente la frontera de Bolivia hacia Chile.
La frontera ha estado custodiada durante meses por la policía y el ejército, aunque los migrantes cruzan por diferentes caminos el desierto. La zona fronteriza estuvo vacía hasta hace unos años. Ahora parece la zona de tránsito de un terminal de trenes.
Una vez en territorio chileno, los migrantes no son detenidos. Algunos siguen caminando hasta la ciudad más cercana, mientras otros se entregan a las autoridades para iniciar un proceso que les ayude a regularizar su estatus migratorio.
A blazing sun beats down on migrants as they walk through one of the driest places on Earth, trying to illegally cross the border of Bolivia into Chile.
The border has been patrolled for months by the police and the army, although migrants cross via different roads through the desert. The border zone was empty until a few years ago. It now looks like the platform at a train station.
Once on Chilean ground, migrants are not taken into custody. Some continue walking to the nearest city while others turn themselves in to the authorities in order to begin a process which allows them to regularize their migratory status.
Matías Delacroix
Fotógrafo independiente, con más de diez años de experiencia trabajando para medios como Movistar Arena, Terra Network, Agencia Uno, El Mercurio, Aton Chile, The Associated Press (AP), Reuters, Getty Images y Agence France-Presse (AFP). Colaborador en el Australian Open 2016 en Melbourne. Actualmente trabaja como stringer para Agence France-Presse en Venezuela.
An independent photographer, Matias has over 10 years’ experience working for media like Movistar Arena, Terra Network, Agencia Uno, El Mercurio, Aton Chile, The Associated Press (AP), Reuters, Getty Images, and Agence France-Presse (AFP). He was a collaborator on the 2016 Australian Open in Melbourne. Currently, he works as stringer for Agence France-Presse in Venezuela.
