Afghan Asylum Seekers Contract Scabies in Brazil, Media Outlets Report
More than 200 Afghan asylum seekers in Brazil are staying in "pitiful" conditions without any shelter at the Sao Paulo airport.
A news agency reported that some of these refugees have contracted scabies due to the lack of public sanitation and an overcrowded environment.
These Afghan citizens have been transferred with a humanitarian visa to Sao Paulo, Brazil, following the Taliban's takeover of the country in August 2021.
According to the Cuban state news agency, the 206 Afghan refugees are now forced to live in a corner on the busiest terminal in South America due to the lack of shelter.
Nawid Haidari, a 39-year-old Afghan refugee who worked as a translator for NATO forces in Afghanistan, said that fearing retaliation after the Taliban returned to power, he fled to Iran with his wife and four children, where he managed to obtain a Brazilian humanitarian visa.
He said that they don't have a place to wash dishes and clothes, and it's hard to sleep with the noise of air conditioners, but Haidari stressed that “it is better than being on the street with children”.
According to the Brazilian government, 405 Afghans have applied for asylum in the country in 2022 and 311 Afghans have applied for asylum in the country in the first five months of 2023.
The municipality of Sao Paulo has provided only 177 beds for immigrants and refugees and these centers are full and have no further capacity for new arrivals.