Afghan immigrants returned to camp at São Paulo International Airport, located in the municipality of Guarulhos. Since last Saturday (1st), the flow has started to increase, says the president of the Union of Muslim Women in Brazil, Aline Sobral, who is also the founder of Coletivo Frente Afgã, a humanitarian network created in August 2022. On Thursday (6th), Aline informed that there were 46 immigrants in the place, 12 of them children.
This morning, the Advanced Post for Humanized Assistance to Migrants, equipment from the city hall installed at the airport, reported that 33 Afghans were waiting to be welcomed there. Since last year, they started to arrive in the country, but since they had nowhere to settle, they stayed in the common areas of the terminal.
According to a survey by the city hall, last year, the months in which the outpost most served Afghans were October, November and December – 338, 416 and 290, respectively. In total, there were 2,844 assistances in 2022. Since January of this year, when 153 Afghans were assisted at the post, the number has increased again. In February, there were 186 and, in March, 360.
While the refugees remain in place, the city hall provides food – breakfast, lunch and dinner –, in addition to water, blankets and social assistance and health care. “In Guarulhos, there are five residences for hosting migrants and refugees, four managed by the city hall, totaling 127 vacancies, and one managed by the state government, with 50 vacancies. All are at the limit”, says the city hall, in a note.
According to Aline Sobral, the city hall, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the humanitarian organization Cáritas are trying to find shelter for the immigrants, but the lack of vacancies makes it difficult to allocate these people. According to Aline, the deadline for sheltering them has varied from five to seven days and, until then, they remain at the airport. The Afghan Front Collective tries to maintain the breakfast and dinner offer.
“They don’t give blankets, they don’t give mattresses, and breakfast arrives at 10 am, with a small juice and one of Ana Maria’s cakes. They are fasting for Ramadan and, when it’s time to start the fast, they don’t have anything to eat. If it weren’t for us, civil society, they wouldn’t even have bread. For those who are fasting, you have to wait until 7 pm for dinner. Lunch for non-fasters arrives after 2 pm. It saddens me to read in other articles that they are providing what they are not,” said Aline.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, in which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.
The humanized checkpoint at Guarulhos airport closes at 7 pm, and most flights arrive after that time. “So if it weren’t for the collective, and our beloved volunteers, they would [refugiados] they would sleep on the ground and in the cold.”
state support
According to the State Secretariat for Social Development, in the last 12 months, the state of São Paulo assisted, welcomed and referred around 3,000 Afghans. This year alone, 700 people were assisted and sheltered with resources from the state and municipalities of Guarulhos and São Paulo.
In February, with the construction of the Casa de Passagem Terra Nova Guarulhos, with 50 spaces, which are already occupied by the Afghans, the secretary informed that the number of refugees who camped at the time had reached zero. In addition, the state’s seven equipment for migrants and refugees, with 200 people welcomed, are at full capacity.
In a note, the Social Development Secretariat of the State of São Paulo informed that it is studying new co-financing to assist refugees in partnership with the capital of São Paulo and municipalities in the metropolitan region. “[A secretaria] awaits coordination and guidance from the federal government to expand the reception to Afghan refugees and other nationalities.”
border town
On February 23, the city of Guarulhos filed a request with the Ministry of Ports and Airports for the city to be recognized as the country’s air border due to the arrival of refugees at the terminal. The request aims to facilitate the receipt of funds for the care of migrants and refugees in the city, which has the largest airport in South America.
“The humanitarian crisis that occurs due to the high number of Afghans who landed in Brazil through the international airport and who, having nowhere to go, remained camped there, revealed the country’s deficiency in the reception of refugees and immigrants. Mayor Guti [Gustavo Henric Costa] defends that, as a frontier, Guarulhos will be able to develop, together with the State and the Union, a permanent policy of reception for this public”, says a note released by the municipality, which informed that there is still no deadline for feedback.
