From exclusion to responses: Migrant participation in addressing health challenges in a Chilean informal settlement

Migrants living in informal settlements face overlapping health and environmental vulnerabilities shaped by exclusion from formal housing and essential services. Un Nuevo Amanecer, an informal settlement located on a former landfill on the outskirts of Santiago, Chile, illustrates these dynamics. Rising housing costs and precarious labour conditions have pushed migrants to self-construct housing on land with limited state oversight. This qualitative study examines how residents experience and respond to health and infrastructure challenges through community-based strategies. Drawing on long-term, community-engaged research, data were collected through in-depth interviews and a focus group with a total of 19 participants recruited via snowball sampling. Interviews explored settlement trajectories, access to services, waste exposure, food insecurity and coping strategies. Findings reveal persistent challenges, including irregular water access, inadequate sanitation, waste accumulation and power outages, that compromise hygiene and food safety. Despite these constraints, residents developed grassroots responses, including informal water systems and collective waste management. The study highlights migrant communities as active agents whose practices should inform inclusive urban health policies.