SPECIAL NOTICE FOR AFGHAN CITIZENS - #3 (Oct 15, 2024)
Dear Afghan Citizen,
ABUNA is a Brazilian NGO dedicated to supporting refugees and persecuted ethnic minorities. Over the past decade, we’ve built a history of hope, new beginnings, and meaningful transformations. Our resettlement program has welcomed hundreds of individuals from diverse social, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, including those from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, Yemen, Libya, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
Since August 2021, we have been working tirelessly to secure long-term solutions for you. Over the past three years, we’ve taken your appeal to the Brazilian government and society. As a result of these efforts, the humanitarian visa program was created, allowing thousands of Afghans to seek refuge in Brazil, hundreds being welcomed directly by us.
However, unlike other countries, Brazil’s humanitarian visa program did not provide financial support to those arriving. Each person was responsible for their own travel and accommodation. This placed an immense burden on Brazilian welfare organizations. Without sufficient resources or shelter, hundreds of families were forced to camp at Sao Paulo Airport for weeks, sometimes months. Others, tragically, fell victim to criminal networks. In response, the government suspended the humanitarian visa on October 23, promising to introduce new rules. On September 24, nearly a year later, the revised rules were finally published.
Key changes to the humanitarian visa program include:
• Humanitarian visas will now only be issued to Afghans sponsored by a Brazilian organization that commits to providing a one-year resettlement program.
• The organization must submit a work plan and a list of individuals it can accommodate to the government. After review by the government, IOM, and UNHCR, approved applicants will be required to visit the Brazilian embassy in Tehran or Islamabad (the only authorized embassies) to submit their personal documentation, provide biometric data, and obtain the visa.
The government will continue to not provide financial support for this program. All costs will be borne by the Brazilian sponsoring organizations. As a result, applying for a humanitarian visa now requires being part of a resettlement program offered by a Brazilian organization, which includes a commitment to help integrate you into Brazilian society. Therefore, it is no longer just a matter of scheduling an appointment at the embassy, as it was in the past.
ABUNA is fully committed to complying with all the new humanitarian visa requirements. Since we do not receive government funding and rely entirely on donations, we are reaching out to our supporters to raise the necessary funds to resettle as many people as possible.
In the meantime, in the past two weeks, we opened registration for those who contacted us in the past, interested in applying to our program. This was made in a private way, sending emails & WhatsApp responses directly from our contacts.
This form, however, was intensively spread in social media channels for many people, causing an overload in our systems. Due to that, we had to suspend the Application Form temporarily, until we were able to process the actual cases. If you have already completed our online form, please wait for us to contact you. If you didn't get to fill out the form, follow us on Instagram and Facebook for updates, as all new information will be communicated through these channels. Filling out the form does not guarantee a visa but is the first step in applying for our program.
Our team will guide you through the process and give you the opportunity to present your case so that everyone has a fair chance of being considered. Please refrain from sending documents at this stage; we will request them later. Also, avoid calling us or our team members in our personal contacts, as we are unable to answer phone inquiries currently.
We understand the challenges you are facing and remain committed to doing everything possible to help you regain the dignity and freedom you deserve. You have not been forgotten, and you are not alone.
We appreciate your understanding and ask for your continued prayers. You are in our hearts, thoughts, and prayers every day.
ABUNA Team
WHAT WE ARE
doing?
Afghanistan Response
Abuna has gone to great lengths to advise and welcome Afghan refugees who have left their homes since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. Due to the arrival of several people without help or a place to stay in Brazil, we welcome families in an emergency, guaranteeing all the necessary assistance and comprehensive care.
Pro-Ukraine Alliance
With the pro-Ukraine alliance, Abuna has been directly involved, sharing with the Ukraining community already settled in Brazil good practices in welcoming the new refugees. We also worked with other organizations and the Brazilian government to produce brochures, bringing relevant information and advices to the newcomers.
Abuna Videos
Abuna Videos
MEET THE BRAZIL / AFGHANISTAN COALIZATION | ABUNA | JOSE PRADO
UPDATES ON MYANMAR | JOSÉ PRADO | ABUNA
PRAY FOR TIGRAY | JOSÉ PRADO | ABUNA
We believe that the sum of small efforts is the best way to transform seemingly impossible realities! See some highlights of our history!
people fully welcomed and integrate
ABUNA has already fully welcomed, offering housing, food, legal advice, medical, dental, and psychological treatment, Portuguese classes, and preparation to get a job, among other services, to 308 refugees, 167 of whom are Afghans. Some were sick, and still, others were "persons with special needs" (PCDs). They came from 12 countries: Venezuela, Haiti, Congo, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
636
rescues from
high risk
We often receive requests to help people who are beyond the reach of other organizations. In these cases, we mobilize Special Task Forces, with trained and experienced people and move towards the danger to rescue them. This was the case of Venezuelan girls who were under the net of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, a Congolese family of 7 who were hiding in the forest after militias burned their village, many Christians from the Middle East persecuted by terrorists, and more recently, hundreds of Afghans sentenced to death by the current regime.
In all, there are already more than 58 tons of food, in addition to thousands of items of clothing, warm clothes, shoes, medicines, blankets, cribs, diapers, and toys collected and donated to families with refugee status and vulnerable immigrants not to mention the dozens of houses we have already furnished, with refrigerators, stoves, furniture for the bedroom, living room, etc.