Afghans transferred to Praia Grande add up to 128

The Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) has already transferred, in recent days, 128 of the 150 Afghans who were sheltering at Guarulhos International Airport, in São Paulo, to the Chemists’ Union Summer Camp, in Praia Grande. The group’s transport began on Friday night (30) and is being completed as they are being registered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Among those transferred, 35 are children and 16 are teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17. The Afghans are being accommodated and also receiving food and medical care, if necessary, in addition to vaccinations, the ministry informed Agência Brasil. The Holiday Camp building has 50 apartments equipped with kitchen, stove, refrigerator, microwave, bunk beds, fan, bathroom and television. In the common areas, there is a garden, swimming pool, a large living area and space for health care and meals. The withdrawal of the Afghans from the airport comes after complaints of contamination by scabies among the immigrants, one of the factors that demonstrate the precariousness to which they were subject. The highly infectious disease spreads rapidly in places with poor hygiene, and was detected on June 21. In addition to UNHCR, the government of São Paulo, the city of Guarulhos, the city of Praia Grande, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Cáritas Arquidiocesana of São Paulo, among other entities, are part of the partnership that allowed the transfer of the Afghans. of civil society working on the cause. According to the most current UNHCR report, 6,194 Afghans arrived in Brazil from January 2022 to April 2023. In June 2023 alone, 356 Afghans had an active asylum application and, by April of this year, 733 already had the status of refugees recognized by the Brazilian government. The Advanced Post for Humanized Assistance to Immigrants (Paahm) – installed at Guarulhos International Airport – assisted 3,545 Afghans, between January 2022 and May 2023. Currently classified by UNHCR as the most critical – between November 2022 and May 2023. 2023 – there were 2,106 assistances. Country context The population of Afghanistan has been dealing, for decades, with conflicts and adversities such as drought and low temperatures in winter, a situation that throws part of them into misery. Difficulties multiplied in 2021, when the Taliban returned to control the country, with the withdrawal of US troops. The resumption of power by the Islamic fundamentalist group, which dominated between 1996 and 2001, aggravated social vulnerabilities, increasing the forced displacement of a significant portion of Afghans. According to the UNHCR, around 3.5 million people are displaced due to the conflict. Out of 2.6 million refugees from Afghanistan, 2.2 million are registered in Iran and Pakistan alone. Since December 2, 2020, Brazil recognizes the vulnerability of Afghans and facilitates the process of recognizing their status as refugees, if they seek help in the country.

Agência Brasil