Brazil Denies Blocking Africans’ Entry to Guard Against Ebola

Brazilian immigration authorities denied Wednesday that they are blocking the entry of African immigrants due to fears that they might be carrying the Ebola virus, which has killed nearly 2,300 people in West Africa since March.

The Federal Police, who are responsible for border control, responded to press accounts that their agents are blocking the entry of immigrants from Africa in the Amazonian state of Acre, on the border with Peru and Bolivia.

“Immigration control in the state of Acre is functioning normally and there is no order to restrict the access of Africans to the national territory,” the Federal Police said in a statement.

The force said that it will adopt the necessary disciplinary measures if it is verified that any of its agents have engaged in “irregularities” while handling African immigrants.

“It also must be emphasized that the Health Ministry ruled out the risk of contamination by the Ebola virus in Brazil,” the statement added.

Acre in recent years has become the main entry point into Brazil for thousands of Haitian and African immigrants seeking opportunity in Latin America’s biggest economy.

Some cities in Acre, such as Brazilandia, at the beginning of this year experienced a serious crisis when their shelters were housing almost 2,500 immigrants.

In the past few days, some African immigrants have complained that they have been subjected to barriers and discrimination when they’ve tried to cross the border.

O Globo newspaper reported that some of the Federal Police officers working at the Acre customs station had even threatened to go on strike out of fears that they might have to come in contact with carriers of the highly-contagious Ebola virus.

Agents consulted by the daily complain that Brazilian health authorities so far have not taken any preventive measures with regard to immigrants entering the country through Amazonia and coming from countries in the midst of Ebola outbreaks.

According to figures compiled by the Federal Police, while 1,054 African immigrants were living in Brazil in 2000, by 2012 that figure had risen to 31,866.

Nearly half of them are from Portuguese-speaking countries such as Angola and Cape Verde.

Published in Latino Daily News