WHAT IS MIGRA

The MIGRA Millennium Nucleus is an interdisciplinary project that aims to contribute to understanding the consequences of recent waves of migration to Chile. In the last decade, the foreign-born population has quadrupled from 2% in 2010 to around 7-8% in 2022.

WHAT ARE OUR GOALS

The objective of MIGRA is to examine the impact of immigration in specific areas of social wellbeing, such as work, education, health, security and law, with a particular focus on understanding the drivers of public perceptions and how to best address possible mismatches between reality and perceptions towards migration.

HOW WE DO IT

We approach the study of the consequences of migration to Chile from three complementary perspectives: generation of knowledge, formation of human capital and impact on decision makers, at the national, regional and local level.

We will address knowledge by generating evidence in different areas, from the characterization of the integration process of migrants through the identification of legal, institutional and cultural barriers, to the study of the attitudes and the perceptions of locals towards immigration, and the impact of innovative initiatives aimed at neutralizing misperceptions and facilitating the social integration of migrants.

The formation of human capital will be present throughout the development of MIGRA, by working side by side with undergraduate, postdoctoral and graduate students in research associated with some of the research lines, and new ones that will be generated.

We are interested in contributing to the public debate. First, by disseminating the scientific evidence that we will produce. Second, holding forums with key actors at the national, regional, and local levels, among them, organizations for and of
migrants. Lastly, we will complement our research and advocacy activities with an active presence on social networks and in public discussions.