The Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU) has found serious human rights violations against immigrants held in a restricted area of Terminal 3 at Guarulhos International Airport. In a report released on Tuesday (20), the DPU reported that it found, during an investigation on the 15th, around 550 migrants held at the airport. According to the Federal Police (PF), a migrant from Ghana died on the 8th.
“There are repeated situations of human rights violations. Children, teenagers, and people were found sleeping on the floor, and there is a growing demand for health care, with many people showing flu-like symptoms. The current situation is greatly aggravated by the cold. The DPU found that many people have not received blankets and spend the nights without any clothing,” says the text of the DPU document.
The Public Defender’s Office released a photo of a handmade poster posted at the location where the detained immigrants are being held, with the following instructions: “Do not bring inadvertently.” [passageiros não admitidos] anywhere; do not take it to buy water, coffee; do not take it to the pharmacy; do not take it out under any circumstances. Sincerely, supervision”, says the poster registered by the DPU.
The Public Defender’s Office stressed that the treatment given to immigrants is inadequate and goes against national legislation and Brazil’s duty to provide humane treatment to immigrants and potential asylum seekers.
“The waiting time and material conditions for potential asylum seekers are inadmissible and go beyond any standard of reasonableness, exposing a large number of hundreds of people to degrading conditions, lack of adequate food, lack of hygiene and risks to life and health, especially in relation to children and pregnant women,” says the DPU report.
In December 2023, the Public Defender’s Office had already found that 485 immigrants had been detained at the same airport, many in extremely vulnerable conditions. According to the Public Defender’s Office, pregnant women, children and unaccompanied minors were being held without health care, without access to food and adequate hygiene and in undue detention for days or weeks.
“The December 2023 scenario was not a unique event. The situation of people being held in Guarulhos who were not admitted has been repeated and the severity of the situation has been increasing after the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation constitutes a serious violation of human rights, in disagreement with Brazil’s international commitments, especially the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and Law 9474/1997, which regulates refuge in Brazil,” the report says.
Death of immigrant
The Federal Police confirmed, in a note, that an immigrant, a national of Ghana, who had been in a non-admitted condition, in the restricted area since the last day (8), because he did not have the necessary documents to enter the country, became ill, “being attended to by a medical team and taken to the public hospital, where he died as a result of a heart attack”.
The PF also reported that, since July, it has observed an increase in the flow of travelers who arrive in international transit, but decide not to continue their journey and “choose not to return to their country of origin, and are unable to enter Brazil due to a lack of a visa. As a result, the vast majority of them end up requesting asylum in order to enter Brazil, even without the relevant documentation.”
The Federal Police said that, in August alone (up to the 19th), 765 requests for refuge were made, 261 of which were in the last three days.
“This scenario has resulted in the presence of a large contingent of travelers prevented from entering the country, which on August 19 stood at 466 travelers. The Federal Police emphasizes that it has been seeking to optimize processes and work in partnership with other institutions aiming at greater speed and observance of the human rights of travelers.”
