“Children, teenagers, people sleeping on the floor and a growing demand for health care were found,” says the agency’s report
THE DPU (Public Defender’s Office of the Union) found serious human rights violations of immigrants held in a restricted area of terminal 3 of Guarulhos International Airport (SP). In report released on Tuesday (Aug 20, 2024), the agency reported having found, during an investigation on Thursday (Aug 15), around 550 migrants held at the site. According to the PF (Federal Police), a migrant from Ghana died on August 8.
“There are repeated cases of human rights violations. Children, teenagers, and people sleeping on the floor have been found, and there is a growing demand for health care, with many people showing flu-like symptoms. The current situation is made worse by the cold. The DPU found that many people have not received blankets and spend the nights without any clothing.”, says 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 take inads [passageiros não admitidos] nowhere; do not take them to buy water, coffee; do not take them to the pharmacy; do not take them out under any circumstances. Sincerely, supervision”.
The DPU highlighted that the treatment given to immigrants is inadequate and contravenes 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 reasonable standard, exposing a large number of hundreds of people to degrading conditions, lack of adequate food, poor hygiene and risks to life and health, especially in relation to children and pregnant women.”, the report says.
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 DPU, 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 the Law 9474/1997which regulates refuge in Brazil”, the report concludes.
Death of immigrant
The PF confirmed, in a note, that an immigrant, a national of Ghana, became ill, was “attended by a medical team and taken to the public hospital, where he died due to a heart attack”. He had been denied entry to the restricted area of Guarulhos Airport since August 8th as he did not have the necessary documents to enter the country.
The organization reported that, since July, it has observed an increase in the flow of travelers arriving in international transit, but failing to continue their journey and “choose not to return to their country of origin, and cannot enter Brazil due to lack of a visa”. According to the PF, most immigrants choose to “request asylum in order to enter Brazil even without the relevant documentation”.
The Federal Police said that, in the month of August alone (up to the 19th), 765 requests for refuge were made, 261 of which were made in the last 3 days.
“This scenario has resulted in 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.”, he adds.
With information from Brazil Agency.
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