A 39-year-old man from Ghana died in Brazil after spending a week waiting at Guarulhos airport in São Paulo for a response to his request for asylum in that country.
According to the criteria of
The family of Evans Ossêi Ússu, originally from Ghana, is looking for answers after the death of their loved one, who was stranded in Brazil due to complications upon entering Mexicowhere he was to undergo urgent surgery.
Evans, who had been blocked in Mexico when he tried to enter for medical treatment, arrived in Brazil hoping to receive care. However, his stay at the airport was fatal.
His cousin Priscilla, resident in Germany, He explained that Evans needed delicate surgery that could not be performed in Ghana. due to lack of proper medical equipment. “They have a special machine. We don’t have that in Ghana. They denied him an American visa and he got a Mexican visa. But he was blocked and we don’t know why. Maybe they thought he actually wanted to enter the United States, but he showed all the medical reports. He even asked immigration to accompany him to the hospital to prove that he was really going to have surgery,” Priscilla said.
The fatal wait in Guarulhos
On August 2, Evans set out from Ghana to Qatar, connecting in São Paulo, where he would attempt to fly to Mexico. However, Mexican immigration denied him entry and returned him to Brazil.
Evans, who suffered from serious health problems, requested asylum in Brazil, hoping to undergo treatment in São Paulo. Despite having the resources to pay for the surgery, he was detained in the restricted area of the airport, where immigrants await answers from the authorities.
During his detention, his health deteriorated rapidly. He repeatedly asked the airport staff for help, but did not receive the necessary assistance.“He sent a message to one of my uncles, telling him that he was in pain and that he had already asked the airport authorities for help four times,” a member of his family explained.
On August 11, he was finally transferred to the General Hospital of Guarulhos, but He died two days later due to a generalized infection..
Consequences and statements
Evans’ death has shocked the Ghanaian community and sparked debate over the treatment of immigrants. Researcher Daniel Perseguim of the University of São Paulo was the one who tracked down Evans’ family in Ghana and expressed his outrage at the case.
“If Evans had been a person from the United States, Canada or Europe, this would not have happened to him. He would not have spent seven days lying on the ground of the airport, without any kind of assistance,” said Perseguim, highlighting the unequal treatment received by African immigrants.
Following Evans’ passing, The Brazilian government implemented new regulations for the treatment of migrants in transitSince August 26, a Ministry of Justice regulation states that the Federal Police will block the entry into Brazil of passengers in transit without a visa for the country. However, according to public defender Murillo Ribeiro Martins, “in the case of Mr. Evans, even under the new rules, he would have been entitled to request asylum. This death indicates that the internal structures were not working.”
São Paulo International Airport and Latam airlines, for their part, said they followed established protocols. Latam reported that, following Evans’s illness, it requested medical assistance and notified both Brazilian and Ghanaian authorities.
Evans was buried on August 29 in São Paulo. His family continues to seek justice and answers about what happened.
The Globe (Brazil) / GDA
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*This content was rewritten with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on information from O Globo, and was reviewed by a journalist and an editor.
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