Border town faces collapse as foreigners seek to flee Brazil

In 2010, a devastating earthquake killed over 200,000 people in Haiti. With the Caribbean nation left in tatters, thousands of Haitians pulled up stakes and headed for Brazil — which was enjoying an economic boom at the time. The point of entry for many of these migrants was the state of Acre, on Brazil’s westernmost tip and part of the Amazon Basin. As one of the country’s poorest and least populous states, Acre struggled with the sudden influx of Haitian people and declared a state of social emergency in 2013. The wave of migration lasted until 2014.

The following year, Brazil’s northernmost state Roraima began receiving an influx of Venezuelan immigrants who were fleeing political, economic, and social chaos in their home country. The vast majority arrived through the small, impoverished border town of Pacaraima, which collapsed under the weight of the refugee crisis.

In 2016, crisis in Brazil saw the influx of migrants fall by up to 96 percent. The government also made efforts to shelter Venezuelan refugees in Pacaraima and offer them opportunities in other cities and states, relieving the pressure on the fragile border town.

Now, Acre is once again facing a migrant crisis, involving citizens from a range of countries. The majority are housed in improvised shelters in the small town of Assis Brasil — but they are not hoping to enter Brazil, they are trying to leave. 

Almost a year of mass migration

Since the beginning of the pandemic, immigrants have...