More than 5,000 Brazilians are still waiting abroad for the possibility of returning to Brazil amid the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Itamaraty, 13,100 people have already been repatriated since March 21, and 5,500 remain stranded, spread over 80 countries.
Closed borders and canceled flights are the main impediments. In Italy, for example, one of the countries with the most cases and deaths from coronavirus in the world, 260 non-resident Brazilians asked for help from the consulate and the embassy in order to be able to return.
There are still commercial flights departing from there to Brazil, with stops in Amsterdam and Frankfurt, but airlines do not guarantee the trip, and many who have already had their flights canceled fear that it will happen again. Others no longer have the money to buy a new ticket, and there are still those who are in smaller cities, without an airport and are unable to get out of them due to the lockdown.
A group of 17 Brazilians decided to take a risk and buy new tickets through Frankfurt. “We are going without any guarantee that it will work,” says journalist Beatriz Campilongo, 26. “What we wanted was not to return for free. It was support from the consulate, a guarantee that we would be able to leave on a flight to Brazil. But they always give the same answers, ask us to fill out forms and say that there are still flights operating. Only they are all being canceled. ”
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon