Sad legacy of Chilean coup

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33454, 8 February 1974, Page 10

Sad legacy of Chilean coup

Since the Chilean military junta started giving expulsion orders four months ago, the World Council of Churches has completed an evacuation programme involving 6000 persons.

More than 4442 persons had moved through the church refugee centres in Chile under the protection of the United Nations, and another 1000 have left through various embassies. Ecumenical church committees have been established in surrounding Latin American countries to assist the transit. An estimated

|4500 persons in this category are still seeking definitive resettlement elsewhere. Unless countries move rapidly to assist these persons, 'it will take months to move them out of transit countries, the council says. There are several social difficulties too. Many governments have taken the refugees into “camps,” providing only menial tasks for people with good professional experience. Many of the refugees have become frustrated and are beginning to talk of themselves as the “industrial reserve army.”

In Chile the council is giving attention to the aiding of victimised families; legal defence for the arrested, and care for those thrown out of work.

In the immediate aftermath of the coup, widespread torture, imprisonment, and job sackings were alleged against supporters of the former Allende Government.

The largest groups of refugees from Chile were originally from Uruguay, Brazil and Bolivia. They sought refuge in Chile under Mr Allende from regimes in these countries. The most refugees have been taken by France, Sweden, and the two Germanies, but places have been found in 35 other countries, including the Soviet Union. The council has spent $600,000 already and is now seeking another $600,000 in support of its work in Chile for the protection of human rights and among refugees still in transit and seeking resettlement.