BRAZILIANS ABANDONED IN ITALY WAIT FOR RESCUE

Without money, desperate Brazilians who are in various cities in Italy have the same request to the Brazilian Government “to return to my country”.
We know that the situation in Brazil is not calm, but at least for those Brazilians returning to their country, they will be in their homes and if something happens they will be close to their families.
These Brazilians are in different cities affected by the new Coronavirus Pandemic, the return is impossible without the intervention of the authorities.
Most of these people in Europe don’t have enough financial resources to support themselves, in a few days they will not have shelter either because they no longer have the financial means to be able to pay rent or food. There is also a group of Brazilians on WhatsApp “Together we are stronger”. Some people are already irregular, with the expired term of 3 months of stay in Italy and have already packed their bags for a long time waiting only for a reply to embark back to Brazil. And in addition to all this, one of these Brazilians is already without controlled anxiety medication, is having a serious anxiety crisis and is in urgent need of medication because she is without a prescription.
These Brazilians are making videos and also sending photos to get the attention of the media and to social networks with posters asking for help and who are waiting for the repatriation to draw attention, in some way, from the Brazilian authorities.
They are also thinking of going to the airport to wait until they have a return and get a flight. After they posted a video on various social networks and even on TV news in Brazil to her attention. But the effect they need has not yet emerged, as some people have received messages from the Brazilian consulate offering flights with higher values ​​than the airlines are currently offering. And there is no direct flight from Italy, there are flights from Germany and they want these Brazilians to go to another country, because if there is a problem in Germany it will be their responsibility and in several other countries they have already had repatriation, only in Italy they are not solving anything.
In addition, the situation of social vulnerability due to the crisis caused by the new coronavirus. More than 17,000 Brazilians have been repatriated abroad and 3,800 have had their flights canceled or awaiting repatriation to return to Brazil. But, Brazilians here in Italy are already tired of receiving unviable answers about the repatriation flight to Brazil.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Ministry informed that the Brazilian consulates in Italy, in Rome and in Milan, are working for the return of non-resident Brazilians held in Italy. So, everyone urgently awaits a solution to return to Brazil.
And the question remains: “Brazil, are you going to leave your children here in Italy without a solution?”

Below are testimonials from some of these Brazilians retained in Italy.
Jaguar Jaguariúna’s family was living a dream on their trip to Italy.
Cristiano and Regiane, couple and their 2 children, 1 is 9 and the other is 13 years old.
But the best memories made room for fear, isolation and the impossibility of returning home.
Cristiano told the Drama that became his trip. Within days they found themselves in the Lombardy region of Milan.
“Thanks God , neither I, nor my wife and my children got sick and we are at the epicenter of the disease.
In addition to not being able to go out for a walk, to exercise, we are anguished with no answers to know when we can return. April 23 completed 2 months that we are here in Italy. In those 60 days, I went out 5 times to be able to go to the market, there are people who risk going out, without a permit, and may be arrested or fined with amounts that can reach up to 5,000 Euros.
One of the only communications from the consulate is that they were organizing a flight, but that flight was going to be chartered and would cost 4 times more than a regular ticket. More than 400 people agreed with that flight and amount. That flight never existed. And nobody proposed to send or order a plane to pick us up.
What the embassy is doing is suggesting that we go to Germany, since there are flights to Brazil. How am I going to get, for example, a car to go to Germany or take a plane with children? And what happens to my underage children if my wife and I are infected in an isolated hospital for 15 days, who will be with my children ?
The appeal I make to the authorities is that we deserve to be treated with dignity, we need a concrete answer. “

☑ “From Engineer Érico Zini and public employee Eliana Zini.
“We are in the city of Medicine, close to Bologna. We are from the countryside of São Paulo, Mirandópolis.
My wife and I have been trying to get back to Brazil since March 17th and our flight was canceled. And after that, we had another flight canceled by the closure of cities. We planned the dream trip that would last 51 days in Italian territory.
When we boarded in Guarulhos, on the 29th of January, with a stopover in Lisbon (Portugal) and destination Bologna (Italy). The return forecast was March 20. We arrived and everything was normal here. We strolled, visited several cities and stayed in some hotels. When we were close to the return date, we went to a cousin’s house in Medicine (45km from Bologna) and that’s when everything happened. Pandemic was declared by WHO (World Health Organization) on 11 March. Two days later, we saw a statement about the closure of the borders of Portugal and the cancellation of flights by TAP, the airline that would take us back to Brazil. In desperation, I bought a direct flight to Brazil by Alitalia, through Smiles. I got a last minute flight for the 17th of March. We left everything ready for the return. And since the 16th, the medical authorities have declared the lockdown, blocking all city borders. Since then, my wife and I have experienced a real struggle to try to return to Brazil.

☑ Michel Maciel de Quadros – Student of Architecture and Urbanism – Florianópolis / Santa Catarina

“My name is Michel Maciel de Quadros, I am 22 years old and in September 2019 I left the south of Santa Catarina, after the expiration of a scholarship to attend part of my graduation in Architecture and Urbanism here at the Polytechnic of Milan.
Today, however, my employment relationship of just over 2 months, decided to suspend our employment as a result of this pandemic. Something that shook me a lot, both economically and psychologically.
In this sense, the company’s attitude in the face of the crisis, of disconnecting its most fragile element – me, student, foreigner, without formal employment ties, despite having passed their period in days worked – means, on the one hand, affirming their rights as employers to go through the pandemic crisis with some degree of comfort and convenience at home, in turn, means the loss of the only current source of income I have (my last installment of the scholarship came in February ); and then, a definite check in on the most vulnerable human contingent of the crisis.
I am aware that this is a situation that will affect everyone to some extent.
These are moments when a society demonstrates its strength.
I can say that I spent some of my best moments in life in this country, in this city … Of hope, of feeling part of something, of wanting to grow. It was all these hopes that allowed me to choose to stay in Milan after my scholarship period ended as a student.
However, there was a return ticket to Brazil, on March 1, a ticket that had been purchased by my Brazilian university, as part of my scholarship, and that in theory, would be my definitive return to Brazil, after 6 months of international mobility.
However, due to the cause of COVID-19, I decided to postpone my ticket, rescheduling it to 04/04, which was finally canceled, with no scheduled date for the return of activities on the stretch.
Since Air Europa does not have available lines of travel to Brazil, and according to them, they cannot refund the amount paid for the ticket, but rather, they only offer a transportation voucher to be used (…) Something that at the moment serves me nothing, given that as I would need to return home as soon as possible, I would need to look for another company, which is operating with very reduced routes and with rates that are quite disproportionate to these. “

☑ (Health Professional – R. G. S – Fortaleza)

“I came in June because of my husband who came to work in Sicily and after the contract ended we came to Milan because my husband had another job offer. And he got a work contract in February that would be more concrete. A week before the pandemic ,they started to send the Pizzeria employees away and had signed a 1 month contract and said they would pay for the work they had done, and my husband was unable to receive unemployment insurance and neither the rest they were going to pay. Flights have been canceled 5 times, and in that, we are in financial trouble, so we got food bonus help from the Italian government, also basic food from a group of Brazilians in Milan on Facebook and charity from the owner of the house we are staying until we get a flight. I also have a chronic health problem and would need to go back to the doctor in Brazil.
There was a person in the group who had to ration food, he counted the days until his flight and ate, for example, one cookie a day. This is unfortunate, it shocked me a lot. Always the same answers as the Consulate. Repatriation request reports have already been sent to:
MRE, ANAC, Consulates and Embassies.
Even the airline that canceled the flight. All unanswered. At the beginning of March, I received an email from the Brazilian consulate in Milan that would have an agreement with the Alitalia Airline for Brazilians, but each one would have to bear the expenses, the flight would be $ 700 euros. And I recently received a feedback from them that didn’t work! And there’s always nothing to help to get back! It’s like the answer “It turns around indirectly.”

By Josi Donelli/Thenews2