One day after new migration rules came into effect, only ten immigrants, without the required documentation, landed at Guarulhos International Airport since yesterday (26). The number is substantially lower than what the Federal Police (PF) had been recording in recent months. 
The change in the rules, established by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, was made after the Federal Police identified that immigrants without proper documentation are being used by criminal organizations for human trafficking. At Guarulhos Airport, however, 480 immigrants without visas are still being held, called by the Federal Police as inadmissible, who disembarked before the new rules came into effect.
“What was reported is that only ten immigrants [sem visto] entered yesterday [26] to today, that is, the number has fallen drastically. Most of them are under the aegis of the old understanding and will be able to request refuge, even if in transit”, highlighted, in a press conference, the Federal Prosecutor in Guarulhos, Guilherme Rocha Gopfert.
According to him, migrants who arrived with the new rules already in force will not be able to apply for refuge in Brazil and will have to continue traveling to the destination country.
The PF investigations revealed that travelers were advised to purchase tickets for flights to other South American destinations with a connection or stopover in Brazil while still in their own countries. Instead of applying for an entry visa in advance, they were advised to wait until they arrived in Brazil to request asylum, thus giving up on continuing their journey. Many even discarded their original boarding passes. Based on the rules in force at the time, they were then authorized to remain in the international transit area of the airport, awaiting a response to their asylum requests.
The prosecutor considered, however, that cases of immigration without a visa must be treated with criteria to allow people in a real situation of danger to receive refuge in Brazil.
“Everyone here remembers the Afghans who came here, and if they had returned to their country, they would not be alive today. And they were able to rebuild their lives in Brazil. So it is important for society to know that the refugee institution is very important and Brazil is a country that is a reference in this, and that the population should be proud of this humanitarian bias that Brazil has,” he said.
