TODAY VENEZUELA – Brazil migration authorities have approved a measure that will facilitate a two-year residence for Venezuelan, Brazilian media reported on Thursday.
The move authorized by the Brazilian National Immigration Council covers all Brazil’s bordering countries that have not been included in an agreement effective at the Common Market of the South (Mercosur).
The action mostly favors Venezuelans.
“Venezuela has been shaken for a while by a strong economic crisis, fast-growing inflation and problems related to scarcity of essentials.Due to the lack of supply, thousand citizens have crossed the border with Brazil in the past few months,” DPA quoted.
The state of Roraima, which shares a border with Bolívar state (south Venezuela), lately reported on “the arrival en masse” of Venezuelans and even declared last year “health emergency,” due to overcrowded hospitals and health care centers.
Starting last Wednesday, February 22nd, Venezuelan immigrants will be able to take advantage of the policy, without applying for refugee status.
According to the Brazilian Public Prosecutor’s Office, a National Immigration Council resolution will enable this grant of up to two years to foreigners who “have entered Brazilian territory by land and are nationals of a bordering country.”
The resolution in force covers citizens of all South America, except Chile and Ecuador, the only ones in the region that do not share borders with Brazil.
Under the new resolution, those who apply for temporary residence must present only a series of basic documents that prove, among other things, that they have no criminal record.
The resolution has “obvious advantages, such as the possibility of issuing identifications for these immigrants that will enable them to legally find work,” said federal Human Rights Prosecutor João Akira Omoto.
Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have fled to neighboring Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, or Brazil, while many have also sought refuge in the United States or Spain.
Source: El Mundo
Article originally appeared on Today Venezuela and is republished here with permission.
