Brazil is stiffening entry criteria beginning Monday, following a surge in migrants disembarking during stopovers at Sao Paulo’s principal airport in an attempt to seek asylum in Brazil.
Their intention is to enter Brazil and go overland to the United States.
“Brazil has become a hub for criminal organizations smuggling immigration and trafficking people. Authorities have detected an exponential surge in the number of nationalities, primarily from Asian nations,” Brazil’s justice ministry said in a statement to AFP.
Travelers purchase aircraft tickets with final destinations in other South American countries and are instructed by people smugglers to seek refuge in Brazil.
However, according to the statement, these tourists intend to journey north through Colombia and then Panama across the treacherous Darien Gap jungle in search of a better life in the United States.
The majority arrive at Brazil’s largest aviation hub, Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport, where hundreds of migrants can spend weeks in a cramped transit zone.
Last Monday, authorities estimated that 481 people were sitting in limbo at the airport. According to local media, many come from India, Nepal, and Vietnam.
Last Monday, a local television station broadcast footage of dozens of people wearing masks waiting in a long line for food.
On August 13, a Ghanaian man died five days after arriving after becoming ill and being moved to a public hospital, where he suffered a heart attack, according to the Federal Police.
Transit visa required
To combat the practice, Brazil’s government announced that from Monday, travelers from countries where Brazil requires a visa will be required to obtain a transit visa for a layover.
The new guidelines also require asylum seekers to demonstrate that they face political persecution or violence in their home countries.
Guarulhos Airport is one of the busiest in Latin America, attracting around 35 million passengers each year.
According to official statistics, the number of asylum applications at the airport has surged by 60 times in ten years, from 69 in 2013 to 4,239 in 2023.
This year, 5,428 applications have been lodged from January to July, with an average of 25 per day.
Numbers increased further in August, with 41 asylum applications each day.
A recent report by Brazil’s Public Defense, an independent organization that provides legal aid to the poor, highlighted “repeated cases of human rights violations,” notably for children, unaccompanied minors, and women “in situations of extreme vulnerability.”
According to the report, migrants “sleep on the ground” and “the demand for medical care is only increasing,” along with “very poor hygiene and food conditions.”
Following an emergency conference convened by the prosecutor’s office last week, authorities doubled the number of staff handling asylum petitions in order to eliminate delays.