Brazil will start restricting entry to foreigners who land in the country without a visa and are en route to another destination, to combat human trafficking.
Brazil’s Ministry of Justice said that from Aug. 26, anyone who enters Brazil without a “visa and whose final destination is another country” will be asked to continue to that destination or return home immediately, according to a report from Agencia Brasil, a state-run news agency.
Federal law enforcement officers identified that immigrants without proper documentation are being advised by human trafficking organizations to apply for asylum when they reach Brazil, the Ministry of Justice said.
The ministry said that investigations show an increasing number of travelers, mostly from Asian countries, arriving in Brazil for a stopover but then applying for asylum instead of continuing to their final destination.
Most want to reach the United States and Canada, according to the ministry.
“An irregular migration route has been consolidated in Brazil, with strong involvement by actors involved in migrant smuggling and human trafficking; with evident fraudulent use of the refugee [process],” the ministry said.
The flow of immigrants arriving on flights to other destinations and staying at Guarulhos International Airport, in São Paulo, where they apply for refugee status, has increased considerably in recent weeks, public defender João Chaves said.
Figures released by the Brazilian government show that in 2013, only 69 people applied for asylum at Guarulhos. By 2023, that figure had increased to 4,239. This year to date, 6,329 applications have been filed, with 481 immigrants currently awaiting the outcome of their applications while living in the airport.
Brazil’s federal public prosecutor’s office, the public defender’s office, and the concessionaire responsible for Guarulhos Airport are all advocating that immigrants waiting at the airport be assisted while their asylum applications are processed.
They are pushing for the Ministry of Justice and the Federal Police to guarantee the right of access to Brazil in a “quick and simplified manner” to ensure the country does not violate laws allowing people the right to seek refuge.
“The migrant is a victim of this process and can never be penalized or blamed,” Chaves said.
“It is essential that any action by the Ministry of Justice be based on an approach that respects human rights, guaranteeing the right to refuge for these people.”
People arriving from countries already exempt from presenting a visa to enter Brazil won’t be affected, officials said.
