Brazil to impose restrictions on entry of Indian & other Asian migrants, aiming to curb migration to US & Canada

Brazil will begin imposing restrictions on the entry of some foreign citizens from Asia who are seeking refuge in the South American nation as a means to migrate to the United States and Canada, the justice ministry's press office said Wednesday.

The move, which will start on Monday, will affect Asian migrants who require visas to remain in Brazil. More than 70% of requests for refuge at the airport come from people with either Indian, Nepalese or Vietnamese nationalities, one of the documents says.

A Federal Police investigation has shown these migrants often buy flights with layovers in Sao Paulo's international airport, en route to other destinations, but stay in Brazil as a place from where they then begin their journey north, according to official documents provided to The Associated Press.

Starting next week, travelers without visas will either have to continue their journey by plane or return to their country of origin, the ministry said.

A report signed by federal police investigator Marinho da Silva Rezende Junior informs the justice ministry that since the beginning of last year there has been "great turmoil" due to the influx of migrants at the airport in Guarulhos, the second most populous city in the state of Sao Paulo.

"Evidence suggests that those migrants, in their majority, are making use of the known - and extremely dangerous - route that goes from Sao Paulo to the western state of Acre, so they can access Peru and go toward Central America and then, finally, reach the U.S. from its southern border," one of the documents says.

An AP investigation in July found migrants passing through the Amazon, including some from Vietnam and India. Many returned to Acre, on the border with Peru, as U.S. border policies triggered a wait-and-see attitude among them.

Brazil's justice ministry said that the new guidelines will not apply to 484 migrants currently staying at Sao Paulo's international airport.

Earlier on Wednesday, Brazil's federal prosecutors' office said in a statement that Sao Paulo's international airport "is once again counting a high number of foreigners who arrive on flights of the airline LATAM and do not exit quickly due to the overload on the Brazilian migration system."

Source : https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/latest-updates/brazil-to-impose-restrictions-on-entry-of-indian-other-asian-migrants-aiming-to-curb-migration-to-us-canada/articleshow/112699513.cms