The picture, courtesy of  Christian Ugarte/El Comercio from Peru this Week, shows miners who camped in Plaza Dos de Mayo in Lima last week to protest against the formalisation deadline last night, asking the State to extend the deadline. The formalisation process began last year and is due to end April 19. Miners who haven’t completed the process by then will remain illegal. They are requesting that the formalisation period be extended for two more years. This group was made up of miners from 20 regions across Peru. Two committees met Member of Parliament Jorge Rimarachín and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in Congress, according to El Comercio.

The protest in Lima was just one of many going on all over the country. More than 20,000 informal miners are protesting in five regions across the country. Demonstrations took place in Piura, Ica, Arequipa, Puno, and Lima. The miners in Lima came from Madre de Dios, Puno, Arequipa, Ica, Ayacucho, Huánuco, La Libertad, and Piura.

“We’re are going to completely support whatever is reasonably valid. The protest […] is understandable because it addresses a problem that affects 300,000 Peruvian families,” said President of Congress, Fredy Otárola in a statement. He added that it may be possible to look into a new legal framework that could contribute to continuing the process of formalisation.