Brazil’s deportations of foreigners up a whopping 5,708% in 2020

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Data shows that over 2,000 people were deported in 2020, compared to 36 in 2019 – an increase of over 5%. Another survey shows a 24% increase in asylum requests granted by Brazil in 2020, while 41,000 requests were denied.

Brazil deported 2,901 people in 2020, according to Federal Police data, representing an increase of 5,708% compared to 2019, when 36 foreigners were deported from the country.

Deportation is the compulsorily removal of a foreigner entering or remaining illegally in a country’s territory.

According to the Federal Police, the increase is a result of ordinances that blocked foreigners from entering Brazil because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, some 30 ordinances were created for this purpose.

With the limitation in the number of flights to Brazil, many of these deportations occurred in cases in which foreigners attempted entry through Brazil’s dry land border with other countries and were eventually barred.

According to the survey, deportations rose in April and peaked in December, when 368 permanence requests in Brazil were rejected by the authorities.

Despite the record number of deportations, Brazil granted 24% more asylum requests in 2020 – 26,810 – than in 2019, when 21,541 were approved.

The largest number of granted requests relate to Venezuelans, with 25,735 requests authorized. Syria and Cuba come next, with only 166 and 123 approved, respectively.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the waiver of some refugees to remain in the country is among the reasons for the data hike. This is because many submit requests but decide to leave Brazil during the review process.

Seeking asylum is a foreigner’s right guaranteed by a UN 1951 convention and ratified by law in Brazil in 1997. Asylum can be requested by “every person who leaves his/her country of origin because of well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group, or due to a situation of grave and widespread human rights violation in his/her country of origin.”

By late last year, there were over 150,000 asylum requests under consideration. Between January and December of that year, only 67,411 were confirmed.

“In Brazil, we have seen that this type of measure of border closures, entry bans, has not been driven primarily by health concerns,” it states. “The consequence has been a very inhumane policy in Brazil, particularly toward refugees.”

“The pandemic has not stopped wars, the pandemic has not stopped humanitarian crises, such as the one in Venezuela, for instance. The pandemic, in fact, reinforces these people’s plight, who are fleeing humanitarian crises situations,” it adds.

These ordinances need to be edited and “include provisions that do not neglect the health condition, but that manage to include Brazil’s international humanitarian commitment”.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that “it is the Federal Police’s responsibility to control the entry and exit of foreigners in Brazilian territory, as well as issues related to migratory status.”

According to the Ministry, “consular assistance to foreign citizens in Brazilian territory is the responsibility of the respective countries’ diplomatic representations in Brazil.”

Source: G1