“We are facing a tragic situation with regard to the Syrian refugees. Our government has decided to receive Syrian families in Chile,” Juan Eduardo Eguiguren Guzman said, adding that the country’s population has been greatly alarmed by media reports on the ongoing crisis in Europe.
Syrian refugees would not have a negative impact on the employment situation in the country and would not pose any other threat, according to the ambassador.
“In our country there is a large and important community of Chileans of Arab descent. I think we have the largest Palestinian community outside the Middle East. So, the Chilean population is ready to receive and support them.”
Syria has been mired in a civil war since 2011 with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting several opposition and radical Islamist militant groups, including the al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State jihadist group.
The United Nations has registered more than four million refugees having left the country since the start of the Syrian civil war.
