Secular Café: Brazil struggles with influx of migrants

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Brazil struggles with influx of migrants Apr 15th 2013, 10:56 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22132976 Quote: In the heart of a shelter packed with immigrants in the Brazilian state of Acre, about 30 men try to concentrate despite the noisy crowd. Sitting on their mattresses, they read and pray quietly. "Every day we ask God to shorten our stay here," says Ahmadou Thiao from Senegal. He arrived two months ago in the town of Brasileia, near the border with Peru and Bolivia, and is one of 1,300 foreigners waiting for a visa to work in Brazil. The centre is meant to shelter just 200 people. Many who came were attracted by reports of the South American country's growing economy and job opportunities leading up to the 2014 World Cup. After entering Brazil, however, they were taken to a place with few toilets and no showers, surrounded by mud... ... there was now a well established international route into Brazil and people from as far away as Bangladesh and Nigeria were aware of it. "Intelligence agencies have identified the presence of 'coyotes' [people smugglers] earning a lot of money. And that is something we are worried about," he said. "We cannot imagine that Brazil is going to solve the problems of the world and Africa."... ...Most of the immigrants have fled Haiti where an earthquake in 2010 wrecked the economy. Since 2011 an estimated 5,600 have arrived, crossing over from Peru and Bolivia. But now the route is also used by migrants from countries such as Senegal, Nigeria, the Dominican Republic and even Bangladesh. Haitians, however, get special treatment from the Brazilian government. In 2012, the national immigration board started granting 1,200 annual work visas to families from the Caribbean island to meet the growing influx. But the number of visas proved to be much lower than the demand. Over the past 15 days more than 1,300 Haitians crossed the border into Acre, more than the annual quota of visas... ...An official said non-Haitian immigrants would only be interviewed by authorities when the situation in the shelter eases. Even then, he says, they may have their requests denied. One immigrant who asked not to be named said: "The situation where I come from is as bad as in Haiti, so why does the Brazilian government treat us differently?"

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