The Brazilian government published this Thursday (3) the inter-ministerial decree that officially grants the humanitarian visa to Ukrainian citizens. On Monday (28), President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) had announced that he would sign the document.
According to the ordinance, Ukrainians and stateless persons (people without recognized nationality) affected or displaced by the situation of armed conflict in the Eastern European country are entitled to visas. The document is valid until August 31, 2022 and "does not rule out the possibility of other measures that may be adopted by the Brazilian State for the protection of Ukrainian nationals and stateless persons residing in Ukraine," says the text. Brazil has this type of visa for Syrians, Haitians and, more recently, has also granted it to Afghans fleeing the Taliban.
More than 1 million refugees have left Ukraine since the Russian invasion, according to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency. As of Thursday, the organization's database recorded 1,045,459 people fleeing the country, in what the Associated Press news agency called "the fastest refugee exodus of the century." The Ukrainian community in Brazil has around 600,000 members, 80% of them in Paraná. In an official note sent to its sister city in Ukraine, Ternópil, the municipality of Prudentópolis (PR), which is home to one of the largest communities of Ukrainian descent outside Ukraine, said it is ready to receive refugees from the war.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon