Unable to find shelter, Afghans camped at Guarulhos International Airport are now facing an outbreak of scabies. “The first identification we had of scabies was on the 21st of June by a volunteer doctor from a basic health unit (UBS) close to [do aeroporto] and that he saw a child scratching himself a lot. She went after that family and identified that they all had scabies. At the same time, this doctor communicated the other volunteers who were in the place and we, from the NGO Além-Fronteiras, together with the Coletivo Frente Afgã, notified the National Health Surveillance Agency [Anvisa] and the Advanced Post for Humanized Assistance to Migrants, from the city of Guarulhos [que fica dentro do aeroporto]”, explained Aretusa Chediak, a physician at the Instituto do Coração (Incor) and founder of the non-governmental organization Além-fronteiras – Rebuilding Lives, a volunteer in helping Afghans. go look at this family that had scabies and identify new cases. On that day, 22 more cases were identified. And they arrived already with a treatment medication and distributed it to the Afghans who were identified with scabies, ”she added. According to the volunteer, however, the measure was not enough. “When we went there the next day, there were afghans who hadn’t even taken the medicine because they didn’t know how to take it. Was it supposed to take one pill, two? Will you have to repeat? They [da prefeitura] identified, gave the medication and that was it. And the most striking and alarming thing about this is that the medicine alone will not treat absolutely anything. The treatment of scabies is accompanied mainly by hygiene measures, which, in fact, is our greatest difficulty at the airport”, said the doctor. Aline Sobral, one of the founders of the Coletivo Frente Afgã, which also works on a voluntary basis with the Afghans, reported that 26 cases were identified among the 209 people who have been living at the airport “without a daily shower, without hygiene and without basic dignity”. Aline Sobral from the Coletivo Frente Afgã acts as a volunteer to help those camped- Paulo Pinto/Agência Brasil These people, according to her, have already been medicated by the city of Guarulhos and by volunteer doctors. “They were medicated, but they don’t change clothes, they don’t shower and they don’t have conditions to wash their clothes. So there must be an increase in the outbreak,” says the volunteer. According to the city of Guarulhos, there are currently 206 Afghan immigrants at the airport. The city hall has only 177 vacancies for the reception of migrants and refugees, 127 of which are managed by the municipality and another 50 by the state government. At the moment, according to the municipal administration, all vacancies are full. Scabies outbreak hits Afghans camped at Guarulhos Airport – Paulo Pinto/Agência Brasil Last week, Agência Brasil was visiting the airport and an Afghan woman had already told the reporter about the difficulty in getting a shower. “I’ve been living here for 22 days and no one has come to help us, take us away [do aeroporto]. And the situation is so difficult. I’m sick myself. Here we have nothing to sleep on. And we are sleeping here with a lot of noise. We showered only once a week – and only ten people could do that. And it’s so cold here [por causa do ar-condicionado]”, said the Afghan woman on that occasion. Background Since 2021, when Taliban radicals took power in Afghanistan, millions of Afghans have left the country to flee a regime that violates their rights. Brazil became the destination of part of them when an interministerial ordinance was published in September 2021, authorizing the temporary visa and residence for humanitarian reasons. The group has had the support of volunteers and the city of Guarulhos, which has contributed with food and sought to find vacancies in municipal shelters. An Afghan woman, who prefers not to identify herself for fear of being recognized by the Taliban regime, spoke to the reporter today and said that she had an art gallery in her country, where she produced works with wood and painting. However, as the Taliban prohibits women from carrying out activities like this there, she had to leave her country. “We have several problems. Although we have lunch and dinner, we are unable to shower and several families have skin problems,” she said. According to this Afghan woman, who has been in the country for nine days, today was the first time she was able to take a shower since she arrived in Brazil. “It was in a very good hotel, but the shower time is reduced, just ten minutes. Ten people went to shower in this hotel today,” she said. Now, in Brazil, she hopes to get the opportunity to practice the profession again. “I hope to open my art gallery here”. City Hall This afternoon, the Afghans also received a visit from the mayor of Guarulhos, Gustavo Henric Costa, known as Guti. In an interview with Agência Brasil, he said that the city hall is concerned not only with the outbreak of scabies, but also with the precarious situation that these immigrants are facing at the airport. City officials visited the Afghans at Guarulhos Airport today – Paulo Pinto/Agência Brasil “We are gathering more information and appealing for help from the federal government, which is directly responsible for this issue. There is a worldwide problem. More than 11 thousand humanitarian visas were granted and most of them enter through Guarulhos. But Guarulhos cannot handle it alone. It is not our constitutional obligation, but it is our duty to reach out. However, we are starting to have short arms and almost tied hands because there are a lot of people, there is a lack of resources”. According to the mayor, the municipal shelters are full. “In our homes, today, we have welcomed 177 Afghans. And we’re working hard to accommodate them as best we can. But to give you an idea, since this problem began, we have already invested more than R$ 2 million in food for the Afghans. And this money is not new, they are resources that we take from our social assistance and that are destined for homeless people and popular restaurant programs. In fact, we are taking money where we don’t have it to extend a helping hand”. According to the mayor’s office, all Afghans at the airport receive three meals a day, as well as water and blankets. As for the complaint made by the volunteers that the city hall does not even explain the best way to take the medicines, the mayor replied that there is a clear difficulty with the language, but that health teams are at the airport daily to administer and medicate people, including applying vaccines. Guti pointed out that he has been sending letters to the federal government requesting that the city of Guarulhos be identified as a border city. “We need Guarulhos to be recognized as a frontier city. Although we do not have a land border with any country, we are the largest gateway to South America and that makes us need an assertive policy. We need the federal government, more than anything else, to lead the relocation of these Afghans to the interior, so that we can send 10, 20 or 30 Afghans to other big cities, so that they are well received and it makes sense that these people, who are taking refuge from a terrible situation in their country, find here [no Brasil] a better, welcoming place. Just a document taking them out of the litigation range is not giving a guarantee and welcoming these families in the proper way”. Last week, the Ministry of Ports and Airports confirmed that it had received the official letter sent by the city of Guarulhos. “The document was forwarded to the National Policy Working Group on Migration, Refuge and Statelessness of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJ), which has the competence to forward the request”. Scabies Scabies or scabies is a highly infectious disease caused by a mite, common in crowded environments with poor hygiene. In the case of Afghans, who had to leave their country and are living in precarious conditions in Brazil, without being able to shower or wash their clothes, they are more subject to the risk of transmission. The disease is transmitted by contact between people or even through contaminated clothing. Its main characteristic is intense itching that usually gets worse at night, in addition to skin lesions. The treatment is drug-based and also includes hygiene measures, such as changing clothes and bedding every day. “The airport was not made for anyone to live. It is not housing, it is a place of passage. There is no structure there to welcome these refugees. They sleep all together and share sheets and blankets. They use the same sheet, the same blanket, the same bedding sometimes for more than 20 or 25 days, which is the time they spend at the airport without us being able to send them to a shelter. And today the shelters are all full”, noted Aretusa. Other problems, according to her, are that they cannot take a shower or even wash their daily clothes and underwear. “The baths are us volunteers that we got in a partnership with a hotel that is close to the airport and that gave us permission for us to take specific numbers of Afghans”, she said. “Without changing this clothing and without hygiene and cleaning measures, we will not be able to fight any outbreak of scabies or anything else”, she pointed out. Actions Through a note, GRU Airport, the concessionaire that manages the airport, informed that the direct action in welcoming and accompanying Afghan families arriving in Brazil is carried out by the city hall of Guarulhos and other competent public authorities. “The concessionaire has contributed to support the performance of personal hygiene procedures and constant cleaning of the space. The hygiene of the bathrooms in that area was also intensified. The locker room, as it is an operational area for employees, is made possible within the conditions and availability of the airport, according to a plan aligned with the Guarulhos city hall”, informed the concessionaire. Last week, Agência Brasil also sought out various federal and state bodies to express their views on the situation of Afghans at the airport. The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) informed that it is aware of the existence of a new group of Afghan immigrants living precariously at the airport, due to lack of options. “Meetings were already held last week and others will be held later this week, with various institutions, to find a humanitarian solution for immigrants with the utmost urgency”, said the MPF. National Secretariat of Justice, informed last week that it is also “aware and sensitive to the situation at Guarulhos airport” and that inter-ministerial meetings are taking place and with various bodies, both from civil society and from the police and the Judiciary, to find a solution to the problem. Anvisa reported that actions related to the reception and referral of refugees are not the responsibility of the agency. “The Afghan refugees currently camped at Guarulhos International Airport (SP) are nationalized travelers, that is, who have already passed through immigration controls and entered Brazil. In this way, the health controls under Anvisa’s competence were applied at the time of nationalization of these people”, said Anvisa. “The existing camp in the public area of the airport configures a totally atypical situation, of people waiting for places in shelters or reception centers for refugees, a situation that is beyond the Agency’s competence. As a measure to prevent possible health problems, Anvisa has required that the camp be dismantled daily for cleaning and disinfection by the airport administration, and then set up again. Anvisa has also provided personal protective equipment (PPE) to volunteers who carry out welcoming work for these people on site,” he added.
Agência Brasil
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