ARTICLE - 500 MIGRANTS TO BRAZIL IN 3 DAYS

500 HAITIANS MIGRATE TO BRAZIL IN 3 DAYS SAYS BR GOV'T
(Defend Haiti) -

BRASILEIA, Brazil - Some 500 Haitians migrated to Brazil in the last three days of 2011 and joined about 700 others living in makeshift accommodations in the Amazonian city of Brasileia, Brazilian officials said.

The immigrants arrived en mass crossing the border from Bolivia in just a few days, after hearing rumors that Brazil would consider the possibility of restricting the entry of Haitians in 2012, a source of the government of the Brazilian state of Acre was quoted in Listin Diario.

Brazil has hosted the past two years hundreds of Haitians who entered the country illegally in search of better living conditions after the 2010 earthquake, and that a "humanitarian" visa had been granted because they can not be considered as refugees or as political asymlums.

"It appears that the Haitians were gathering across the border into a group with the fear of being prevented from entering Brazil," the source added.

The governor of Acre, a state on the western border with Bolivia and Brazil, reported that food and water were sent to assist immigrants who settled in the streets of Brasileia, since this small city has no means to provide assistance.

"The situation is complicated, because the state had built a shelter for immigrants which apparently became too small for the 700 Haitians already in Brasileia", according to the source consulted by Efe.

Assistant Secretary of Justice and Human Rights of Acre, José Henrique Moura Corinth, traveled to Brasileia on Monday to coordinate aid to the many undocumented immigrants.

Although the National Committee for Refugees (CONARE), Ministry of Justice of Brazil admitted in December to examine measures to combat trafficking of immigrants at the border of the Amazon, so far has not announced any decision.

According to the Jesuit Refugee Service International in Latin America (SJR), different networks of trafficking and smuggling of Haitian citizens who are recruited with promises of work in countries such as Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, are abandoned, and end up traveling to Brazil in search of better living conditions.

In 2010 only, Brazil granted humanitarian visas to 475 Haitian migrants, but the number of immigrants increased significantly in 2011.

Acre's government estimates that at least 2,300 Haitians entered the state last year.

Besides the humanitarian visa, immigrants obtain documents allowing them to work in Brazil, and some are sent to larger cities such as Porto Velho also in the Amazon and Manaus, where the jobs are is higher.