Brazil to tighten measures for transit travellers: what does the rule entail?

• Immigration authorities have recorded an increase in asylum applications between January and August of this year

The Brazilian government has announced that it will tighten rules for travellers in transit, in order to prevent the “abusive” use of asylum applications.

Starting Monday, August 26, immigration officials will require people who disembark at Brazilian airports without an entry visa and are bound for other countries to continue their journey or return to their points of origin.

With these new rules, the Brazilian government is seeking to prevent passengers supposedly in transit from abandoning their connecting flight, remaining at the airport and then requesting asylum to stay in the country.

Brazil’s Justice Ministry said in a statement sent to the EFE news agency that the new measure is legal.

The court added that this rule seeks to combat human trafficking and protect access to asylum for those who “actually need international protection.”

Photo: Courtesy of Hosteltur

Asylum applications in Brazil

According to official figures, there are currently 481 foreigners in the restricted area of ​​Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo.

These people will have to process their asylum applications before August 26, the day on which the new immigration policy will come into effect.

The Brazilian Federal Police conducted investigations and concluded that criminal organizations recommend that migrants, mostly from Asian countries, ask for asylum “in lieu of an entry visa.”

To reinforce this theory, the authorities pointed out that they have recorded a “drastic” increase in the number of requests at Guarulhos airport, where they went from 69 in 2013 to 4,239 in 2023 and 6,329 between January and August of this year.

Photo: Courtesy of Aeropuertos.net

Asylum seeker figures

Of the 8,300 requests registered since 2023, only 117 people applied for the National Migration Registry and only 262 processed the identification number with which one accesses public health and education services in Brazil.

According to the investigations, this reveals that the asylum seekers’ aim was not to stay and live in Brazil, but to continue their journey to the United States or Canada in an irregular manner.

Migration authorities also noted that on several occasions over the past two years, hundreds of migrants remained for weeks at Guarulhos airport waiting for authorities to process their asylum requests, while living in makeshift camps without even the minimum hygiene conditions.

Among the travellers camped were Afghan families who fled their country after the Taliban took power and were looking to start a new life.

In Brazil, there are 477,493 Venezuelan migrants, of whom around 94,500 have requested refugee status, according to figures from the organization Movilidad Venezuela.

With information from EFE

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