Mass deportations
Organizations react to deportation of Venezuelans by Federal Police
On December 9, the Federal Police began a process to deport nearly 450 Venezuelan immigrants who were in the northernmost Brazilian state of Roraima without either visas or proper papers, the majority of whom were indigenous, including children. In response, organizations that work with human rights have warned, in a public statement, about the inappropriateness of mass deportation. As a result of the crisis in Venezuela, informal data indicate that there are nearly 10,000 Venezuelans in Roraima.
The Federal Courts in Roraima later suspended the deportations at the request of the Federal Public Defender’s Office, which pointed out that mass deportation does not consider individual issues, it disrespects the will of the individual and it precludes the right to a full defense and adversarial process. However, the indigenous people were not given the chance to remain and were not permitted to express their individual and collective circumstances.
The organizations believe that “actions like the one conducted in Roraima are not consistent with the policy that is being developed in Brazil and that already recognizes the shared responsibility of states to take in immigrants and refugees”, and they added that “the position adopted in Roraima is inadmissible, since besides being a setback it also restricts the rights of immigrants and refugees”.
The statement was signed by Conectas and another 12 organizations including the Federal Public Defender’s Office and the Federal Attorney General’s Office for the Rights of the Citizen. They concluded by calling on the Brazilian State to assure dignified conditions for Venezuelan immigrants.
- Click here to read the public statement in full.
