With an influx of Afghan refugees, Guarulhos wants to be a ‘border city’ – 03/25/2023 – Panel

The Municipality of Guarulhos (SP) wants the municipality to be officially recognized as a “border city” by the federal government, a category that facilitates the receipt of resources from the Union to deal with immigrants and refugees.

The argument of the city, located in Greater São Paulo, is to house the country’s main international airport, through which waves of refugees from other countries, especially Afghanistan, have arrived.

Last Thursday (23), Mayor Gustavo Costa (PSD), Guti, formalized the request with the Ministry of Ports and Airports.

“Because it houses such expressive equipment, we would like the municipality of Guarulhos to be recognized as a border of Brazil and thus to be treated before the Federation, allowing this action to have access to border protection policies, in addition to numerous resources and programs for border regions”, says the letter filed by the mayor.

The document records that 2,684 Afghans arrived in Brazil through the airport. The influx translates into “a significant increase in demands for the city with public health, housing, social assistance and education that had not been initially planned”.

The mayor’s office says it has created three shelters for Afghan refugees, with a total of 177 places.

The municipality also mentions that immigrants from other countries in conflict situations seek assistance, such as Syrians, Ukrainians, Venezuelans and Haitians.

Sought by the Panel, the ministry did not respond to the Guarulhos mayoral election.

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