Brazil Grants Asylum to 8,000 Venezuelans in Single Day

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Friday, August 28th, the National Committee for Refugees (CONARE), linked to the Ministry of Justice, recognized the condition of refugees to some 8,000 Venezuelans. The vote was held during an online meeting and approved in a single session.

According to the portfolio, from now on these people will be able to apply for the National Migration Registry, as well as have easy access to other Brazilian rights, such as education and health.

Some 38,000 Venezuelans have already been recognized by the CONARE over the past eight months, in a group vote in the collegiate body.

Currently, there are 193,737 refugee applications in Brazil still being processed by the Committee, according to figures compiled on May 31st. Among these, over 104,000 applications – or 53.7 percent of the total – are by Venezuelans.

The Ministry explains that this group decision is the result of the use of Business Intelligence tools, which, through data cross-checking, identifies some 100,000 requests from Venezuelan citizens.

In a note published on the Ministry of Justice’s website, the National Secretary of Justice Claudio Panoeiro says that without this approach, determining these cases could take approximately two years.

“We are aware of the CONARE’s role in such situations and we always rely on the involvement of civil society in the debate on issues of great relevance to the public, such as refugees,” he says.

Source: Exame