Brazil to tighten entry rules to curb migration to North America

A person shows passports from Brazil that were found on the banks of the Rio Bravo River, on the border between the U.S. and Mexico, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico September 19, 2023. /Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo

BRASILIA - Brazil will tighten up rules to enter the country without a visa starting next week, the government said on Wednesday, after migrants have been increasingly using the South American nation as a stop-over on the way to the United States and Canada.

Starting on Monday, foreign travellers without a Brazilian visa who are headed for another country must travel on to their destination or return to their home country, Brazil's public security ministry told Reuters in a statement.

Brazil has seen a boom in foreign travellers, particularly from Asia, landing in the country for a supposed layover only to then apply for refuge while they are there, the ministry said.

Now, those passengers without a visa will not be allowed to stay in Brazil.

According to two reports from authorities seen by Reuters and a senior police source, investigations have found that those migrants are requesting to stay in Brazil, alleging persecution and threats in their home countries.

Once they are granted refuge in Brazil, many often travel north by land, mainly heading to the United States or Canada through the dangerous Darien Gap, which connects Colombia and Panama, the ministry said, citing police investigations.

"They request refuge (in Brazil) as a guarantee," the senior police source said. "If they are caught at the U.S. border, they are sent back to Brazil, instead of their home country."

From the beginning of 2023 to the end of June this year, more than 8,300 requests for refuge were presented at Brazil's busiest international airport, according to the ministry. Of those requests, only 117 stayed active in Brazil's national migration system.

"That means that 99.59% of the people who requested refuge at the airport - 8,210 - have either left the country or stayed irregularly," one of the reports stated.

More than 70% of the applicants during that period were from India, Vietnam and Nepal, according to the reports, which national Justice Secretary Jean Uema told Reuters bucks historic trends.

Of the refuge requests analyzed, nearly 17% left the country within 30 days, one of the reports showed, the vast majority of them through the state of Arce on the border with Peru.