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Brazil's Foreign Minister Carlos França (archive image)
Photo: EVARISTO SA / AFP
After the militant Islamist Taliban came to power, Brazil will issue humanitarian visas to people from Afghanistan under certain conditions.
This applies, for example, to people who are "seriously affected by human rights violations (...) in Afghanistan," according to a statement on Saturday.
The Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos França and Justice Minister Anderson Torres signed a decree regulating the issuing of temporary visas and residence permits.
Applications from women and children, for example, would be given special consideration.
How many Afghans Brazil wants to take in remained open in the communication.
The visa can only be applied for outside of Brazil, the nearest Brazilian embassy in the neighborhood of Afghanistan is in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
Other countries in the region have also announced that they will or have already accepted Afghans.
More than 200 people from Afghanistan arrived in Mexico in August, among them five young women who belong to the internationally known robotics team “Afghan Dreamers”, as well as journalists and local staff from the international media.
Colombia will temporarily host 4,000 Afghans, making it one of 15 countries participating in this US-funded program.
Latin American countries like Mexico have repeatedly taken in large contingents of refugees, for example during the Spanish Civil War, the Nazi dictatorship or the rule of the military juntas in South America.
nck / dpa
