The Stranded Foreigners of Jorge Chávez Airport: Immigration Setbacks and Legal Limbo

2024-03-12 03:47:50

At least thirteen foreigners spend their days in the departure lounge of the Jorge Chávez airport due to various immigration setbacks, according to a report released this Sunday by Cuarto Poder, which made public the case of the Venezuelan citizen Duiliana Sánchez, who has remained at the airfield since 38 days ago for not having a visa.

Three of them are from Nepal, one of the 50 least developed countries in the world, where 44% of the population lives below the poverty line, according to Oxfam. Samar Nath landed in Lima on February 19 of this year, three days before Karan Shahi and Bahaur Shahi, who live in the seats next to gate number 33 of the international area.

None of the mentioned can be easily related due to the language. Along with them is also Adama Ouedraogo, who lost his documents and remains in the same clothes that he arrived, more than two months ago, from Burkina Fasso, a West African nation that was a French colony, and whose history is marked by military coups and drought.

“I have lost my papers, my passport. And I need someone to come here. I hope a friend finds a solution for me. […] I need a lawyer, a lawyer to solve the problem. I’m going to stay here in Peru. I need to be in Peru. If I have family. I always try to communicate with my family,” he told Sunday in a conversation in French.

Samar Nath, Karan Shahi and Bahaur Shahi are three Nepalese trapped at the Jorge Chávez airport. Photo: capture of Cuarto Poder

Cuarto Poder learned that 11 other foreigners are experiencing the same problem, despite the fact that the director of Immigration Registration and Control, Fernando Núñez, was unaware of the information. “There are no more cases than that of the lady [venezolana]. There may be the case of inadmissible people who, depending on the frequency of the flight, may spend more than a few hours until they are returned to their country of origin,” he declared.

“The case of the Nepalese [lo] We have known, but we do not administer the international zone. There have been cases in the past [pero ahora] “We have no knowledge,” he continued. According to Migrations, Duiliana Sánchez cannot enter the country as a tourist because she does not have a visa and her residence permit is not valid.

The young woman arrived in Peru in 2019, along with her parents, from Maracaibo, and during her stay in the country, she worked for different brands with her documentation in order. In September 2023, she requested permission from Immigration to leave national territory for a month. A trip to Italy would change her routine radically.

In that European country, his documents were stolen, including his passport and work permit, which is why he requested safe passage from the local Peruvian embassy, ​​which was granted. His lawyer, Gabriel González, explained that at the Peruvian headquarters they told him that he had to go to the Venezuelan embassy to return to his native country and obtain a new passport.

Venezuelan citizen Duiliana Sánchez has been living in the international area of ​​Jorge Chávez Airport for more than a month. Photo: Fourth Power

For this reason, she has been prevented from leaving the Lima airport. Sánchez has reported being a victim of sexual harassment on two occasions and that she is not allowed visits, despite the fact that her parents come almost daily to try to provide her with clothing and food.

Migrations, for its part, has indicated that the young woman remains in the international transit area of ​​her own volition, without being detained and in disregard of a notification of inadmissibility issued on January 31, 2024. “The aforementioned person has requested a reconsideration of the denial. of his request for refuge, an appeal that has been declared unfounded by the Special Commission for Refugees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Likewise, she has filed a lawsuit with the Judiciary,” reads a statement.

In dialogue with the Sunday newspaper, Sánchez stressed that his case is fortuitous and called on the authorities to treat him in a humanitarian manner. “My life is completely here. There is nothing behind for me. I have an immigration record here and, when I return to get a visa, when it expires I would have to leave once more. “I would continue doing the same thing, illegally, from one place to another,” he concluded.

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