Argentina does not discriminate against Brazilians, says ambassador – 02/26/2024 – World

Brazil’s ambassador to Argentina, Julio Bitelli, claims that there is no discrimination against Brazilians by Javier Milei’s government, in light of reports that the country has been stricter in recent months and barring students who try to enter without a visa.

Although there are signs that Argentine migration stations are becoming more demanding, the diplomat says that this has not translated into a greater proportion of Brazilians not being admitted to airports, citing data presented to him by the National Directorate of Migrations in Buenos Aires.

When contacted, the agency informed the Sheet that only 38 people who tried to enter the country from Brazil since January 1st were not accepted, out of a total of almost one million, for different reasons that include incorrect documentation. The Argentine government said it would not be able to provide last year’s number this Monday (26), but confirmed that it did not vary significantly.

During this period of the year, the flow of Brazilians entering Argentina increases, including vacation tourists and students preparing to start classes at public universities, which are attractive to foreigners because they are free and do not require entrance exams — in total, around 10 thousand Brazilians study in the country.

The atmosphere of alarm that arose following the reports of barred students led the ambassador to seek out the body to clarify the facts last Friday (23), even though this is a consular issue.

“Our concern was to know if there was something arbitrary, if there was something discriminatory against Brazilians and if there was something that was against Mercosur rules, and in fact none of that exists”, says Bitelli. “What can be said is that the perception is of a stricter application of the rule, but the rule has not changed nor is it being applied arbitrarily.”

He states that there were also complaints from countries such as Colombia and Ecuador, and details that in February the cases decreased a lot and only one Brazilian was barred.

According to local migration laws, tourists can enter and stay in Argentina for up to 90 days, extendable for another 90, without a visa. Students need to apply for a student visa, presenting documents such as university registration and acceptance letter.

“It is important to clarify that there have not been and will not be any changes to Argentine migration policy. The requirements do not change and remain the same”, reinforced Milei’s Ministry of the Interior, to which the migration department is subordinate. “We wouldn’t want to raise alarms in the international student community we have in our country.”

In the case of Brazil, these processes are regulated by Mercosur rules and also by a bilateral agreement that came into force in 2009. It allows Brazilians to apply for permanent residence without having to complete two years of provisional residence.

This context led to a culture in which students used to enter as tourists without any major problems and, once there, asked for the right to stay.

“What is not possible is to be half tourist, half student. You can, according to the laws and rules of Mercosur, enter as a tourist and change your status later. But you have to have entered the country fulfilling the requirements to enter as a tourist , as a return ticket”, explains Bitelli.

These requirements are contained in a provision of the National Directorate of Migrations (4362/2014), in force for a decade, which guides border authorities on how to act when they suspect that someone is a fake tourist — which includes asking for airline tickets, travel cards, credit, proof of accommodation, etc.

By blocking students, therefore, the border authorities are not breaking the rules for the movement of people between the bloc’s countries, but they are signaling a retreat from a stance of permissiveness that, until now, marked this side-by-side relationship.

“If there was a certain relaxation previously, deep down the problem was there before, when the rules were not being followed”, says the ambassador. “But this is a question for Argentines. What Brazilians have to understand is that there are requirements to be met for those who want to study in Argentina.”

He states, however, that the embassy will continue to be attentive and, if there are cases that could eventually be interpreted as discriminatory, the country can make a formal complaint.

Since coming to power, Milei has already signaled that he intends to restrict the access of foreign students to public universities. His package of liberal reforms dubbed the “bus law”, which went back to square one after a lack of consensus with the opposition, intended to charge monthly fees to immigrants who did not have a residence.