Challenges of migratory law in Chile

With the participation of a diverse group of students from different regions of the country and professional backgrounds, the course “Perspectives of Migration Law in Chile” was given for the first time. Its objective was to provide an updated and critical view of Chilean migration law in light of recent legislative changes, jurisprudence and the evolution of the subject and its challenges at the international level.

In charge of the direction of the program, which began in May 2022 and was taught by the graduate area of the Faculty of Law of the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (UAI), was the academic of the faculty, expert in migration law, Mayra Feddersen, together with a team of professors and specialists in areas such as law, public policy and social sciences. Among them Tomás Pascual, Rita Lages, Waleska Abah-Sahada, Romina Ramos, Caterina Guidi, Arturo Ibáñez, Pascual Cortés, Rocio Lorca, Gabriela Hilliger, Macarena Rodríguez and Eugenia Contarini. “Heterogeneity, diverse experiences and points of view were central to the classes, as it allowed for a rich exchange of ideas,” said Professor Feddersen.

The course consisted of fifteen sessions in online and face-to-face format, in which attendees were able to learn and internalize on a wide range of topics, including the regulation of migration in the world, the legal protection of the rights of migrants, the protection of migrant children and adolescents, migrant women and the border, migration permits, migration and criminal law, trafficking in persons and refugee and nationality, among others.

“With this course we sought to provide an updated vision on migration law in our country, especially when we face a critical situation in the north, but also because it is a key moment to update knowledge and address the important changes that this issue has had in the last year. Today we have a new migration law, a new regulation and several complementary decrees. For these reasons, this course is essential for the training of the people who deal with this matter”, emphasized the professor of the Faculty of Law.

For her part, among the attendees the good reception towards the classes and their contents was unanimous. “The course exceeded my expectations. I ran every Tuesday to connect. The professors and classes were outstanding. I highly recommend it”, commented some students during the last day of classes.