Afghan migrants camp in Sao Paulo amid scabies cases

Dozens Afghan migrants They struggled for months in a makeshift camp inside Sao Paulo International Airportthe busiest of Latin Americawaiting for the authorities to offer them a decent place to rest.

A recent outbreak of a outbreak of scabies between 206 Afghans The fear of a public health crisis has increased as they camp there, and the authorities assure that they will find places for them in the surrounding hotels.

Navid HaidariA 39-year-old father of a family who worked as a translator for ON THAT before the return of the Taliban to power, he fled with his family to Iran on a 38-hour walk and in Tehran he appeared before Embassy of Brazil.

From September 2021, the Brazilian government is offering a humanitarian visa to those fleeing the Taliban regime to allow them to travel to the South American country and, once there, apply for refugee status or a residence permit.

Although those interested have to pay for the plane tickets themselves, the open door of Brazilian diplomacy has made the country an attractive destination.

The number of Afghan asylum seekers has grown from 30 in 2021 to 405 in 2022 and only from January to May of this year the rest 311 citizens of that country, according to official data.

However, after landing São Paulomany refugees discovered that the reception centers were full and that the federal police sent them to a damp hall on the second floor to be cared for not by the public authorities but by groups of volunteers.

Thus, since September of last year, the newcomers have been living in tents covered with donated blankets and separated by trolleys with suitcases from the airport itself for the weeks or months needed to find shelter.

When Haidari, his wife and their four children, including a one-year-old boy, arrived in Brazil 10 days ago, they did not expect to find a camp.

“I thought there would be reception centers and I was surprised to see that,” the Brazilian soccer fan told EFE since childhood. We have no place to wash dishes or clothes, and it’s hard to sleep with the noise of the air conditioner, but that’s better than being on the street with children,” he adds.

Guarulhos, the municipality where the airport is located, has barely 177 beds in shelters for migrants and refugees and all are occupied, according to the mayor’s office.

Minister J.Brazilian referee, Flávio Dinoassured this Thursday that refugees would be able to move to hotels in the region “until a final policy is structured to solve this serious problem”, but did not specify when the operation would begin.

SCABIES OUTBREAK

The sense of urgency has grown in recent days, after a doctor referred by the Mayor’s Office discovered last Thursday that one family in the camp had scabies, a highly contagious disease that causes itching.

In addition to the current answer, Afghan Front Collectivea group of volunteers who took on the burden of welcoming refugees, demand that the authorities take on their responsibilities once and for all so that this does not happen again.

For Miguel Freire Couycoordinator of the group, the outbreak was an “announced tragedy” given the lack of basic access to hygiene, necessary to fight infection.

“For almost a year, we have been warning about unworthy conditions, but the competent authorities pass the hot potato from one person to another,” says the volunteer.

Navid Haidari, who wants to include Portuguese in his translation program, hopes that they will soon be moved to a shelter, but relativizes the fear of a new outbreak of scabies: “We are a little afraid, but at least the Taliban are no longer looking for us here.”