Brazil closes border to Venezuelans after mass crossings

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Brazil closed its northern border on Monday to block the entry of Venezuelans.

The measure followed Sunday’s decision by federal judge Helder Barreto in the northern Brazilian state of Roraima, on the Venezuelan border, to put a stop to the entry of more Venezuelans until a greater number of immigrants from the economically beset nation are transferred elsewhere in Brazil.

Barreto on Sunday ordered the border closed until the frontier state of Roraima can create “humanitarian” conditions to receive the massive and disorderly influx.

November 16, 2017: People stand at the border with Venezuela, seen from the Brazilian city of Pacaraima, Roraima state, Brazil. /Reuters Photo

But the injunction has not gone into effect yet pending an appeal by Brazilian government lawyers.

According to the judge, the measure applies to land crossings at the border, not air or sea arrivals.

Over the last three years, tens of thousands of Venezuelans have arrived in Roraima, overwhelming social services and causing a humanitarian crisis with families sleeping in the streets amid rising crime and prostitution.

The state government on Thursday decreed Venezuelans seeking medical and other social services in Roraima would have to present a valid passport, which many of the refugees do not have.

Barreto ruled that such a measure was “discriminatory” and countered Brazilian laws. He suspended a provision that would allow the deportation or expulsion of Venezuelan immigrants who committed illegal acts and ordered the vaccination of those admitted to Brazil.

Venezuelans are pictured with their luggage before showing their passports or identity cards at the Pacaraima border control, Roraima state, Brazil, November 16, 2017. /Reuters Photo

However, he ordered the suspension of the entry of Venezuelans into Roraima until the state can reach an equilibrium between the arrival of migrants and their exit to other parts of Brazil.

Following recommendations by the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the Brazilian Air Force in early May began airlifting Venezuelan immigrants from Roraima for resettlement in other cities of Brazil.

To date, some 820 Venezuelans have been flown out of Boa Vista, the state capital, by the Air Force. But state officials say more than 500 Venezuelans cross into Brazil every day on average and many stay in Roraima because they cannot afford to move on.

Brazil’s federal government has declined requests by Roraima’s governor to close the border. Solicitor General Grace Mendonça renewed an appeal to the Supreme Court on Monday to suspend the state decree restricting services for Venezuelans, saying it interfered with federal powers.

Source(s): Reuters