(Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s decision to tighten entry restrictions on some foreign travelers came in response to an explosion of refugee requests at its main international airport, turning it into the latest nation to grapple with a surge in migration.
Authorities said more than 6,300 travelers at Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo have applied for the status this year. As of Wednesday, 481 people were at the airport waiting on the results of their requests, Brazil’s Justice Ministry said in a statement.
The airport has become a jumping off point in recent years for migrants, particularly from Asia, looking to reach the US and Canada: Last year, 4,239 refugee status requests came from travelers in Guarulhos, up from just 69 in 2013, according to the Justice Ministry.
New rules that go into effect Monday seek to deter a practice in which people who are supposed to travel through Brazil instead abandon the final leg of their journey and request refugee status. Once granted protection, many migrants continue traveling north, including though the perilous Darien Gap crossing, Brazilian police say.
The growing numbers of travelers waiting in legal limbo has fed mounting concerns over potential human rights abuses at the airport. Authorities say a migrant died earlier this month after falling ill in a holding area.
Officials at Guarulhos airport declined to comment.
Across the globe major airports are grappling with an influx of migrants that is straining services and the patience of locals.
Tensions have flared in the US as authorities have struggled to relocate migrants taking shelter in Chicago’s O’Hare and Boston’s Logan airports. In January, human rights groups alerted about poor living conditions for hundreds of asylum seekers stranded at Madrid’s Barajas airport.
But beginning next week, passengers without a required visa will no longer be able to stay in Brazil.
“The measure does not apply to countries that are on the visa exemption list for entry into Brazil,” the Justice Ministry said in its statement.
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