Peruvian cross border commuters in the Chilean-Peruvian border region : A study on Peruvian cross border labour commuters

Abstract

Migration is a phenomenon that occurs in many forms throughout the world. The term describes not merely the specific move of individuals from one place to another, but also defines a process that has become a way of life which often influences whole populations and their living/working environment: places where the migrants live, places where they migrate to, the places that they pass through and the people they interact with. Some migration is short-term, mostly seasonal and over a short distance. This thesis is concerned with short-term and short distance migration in a region in the north of Chile, where people ‘migrate’ on a weekly basis between the cities of Tacna and Arica in Peru and Chile respectively. These migrants are referred to as international commuters. The term commuter is used because of their weekly journey across an international border. During the week the commuters work and live in Arica (Chile) and during the weekends they travel back to Tacna (Peru) to live with their families. For conducting this research I used the following research question Analysing the commuter group in the Peruvian-Chilean border region, in order to examine what social and economical influence their commuting has on the region and what impact the border has on their commuting behaviour.