Brazil will have the capacity to welcome over 5,000 refugees by May

                                                                                                                                                                                   Antônio Cruz/Agência Brasil

As a way of providing a better service to Venezuelan refugees, Brazil expects to have 11 shelters operating near the Roraima border by the end of May. This will increase the country’s capacity to welcome refugees: from 3,000 to 5,500 people. Currently, six such shelters are already available around the country.

Each shelter will be able to house 500 immigrants and provide them with healthcare, food, accommodation and other humanitarian services. Reaching these shelters is the first step towards registration and relocation to other capitals, where they will be integrated into Brazilian society

Relocation

“We made significant progress in the past few months with regard to understanding the issue of immigration”, said Alberto Beltrame, the Brazilian Minister for Social Development. He spoke on Tuesday (17), after a meeting of the Federal Emergency Assistance Committee, a collegiate body created to welcome Venezuelan refugees in a vulnerable situation.

According to Beltrame, the ministry expects to negotiate the relocation of approximately 1,000 immigrants over the next month to Brasilia and Porto Alegre, among other capitals. “Those people who are still in Pacaraima or Boa Vista, in the state of Roraima, have already had their lives significantly improved [thanks to the shelters]”, he pointed out.