After the soap opera of more than 30 days to get the group of Brazilians and their families out of the Gaza Strip, the government faces a new difficulty: obtaining authorization for a new list of repatriates to cross the Rafah crossing into Egypt.
Newly arrived in Brazil, the repatriate Hasan Rabee stated that there are still Brazilians in the Gaza Strip, including his mother and sister.
According to him, there are two lists and the one they are part of was not authorized to cross the border. More than 40 people showed interest in being repatriated – in addition to those who arrived in the country on Monday (13).
After Hasan’s speech, Lula ordered the Brazilian chancellor, Mauro Vieira, to seek authorization to repatriate a second list of Brazilians and family members who are in the conflict area.
“We will try to make every effort within the reach of Brazilian diplomacy to try to bring the Brazilians who are there and who want to return to Brazil”, he declared.
When talking to the repatriates, in front of the press, the president said that he will ask to try to bring the family members of Brazilians who are interested in settling in Brazil.
“I asked them to bring relatives until they were not Brazilians and we will try to legalize these people here in Brazil. As long as there is the possibility of taking someone out of Gaza, let’s do it. Even if he is Palestinian by origin,” he declared.
VIDEO – We will not leave any Brazilian in Gaza, says Lula upon receiving returnees
Despite the president’s wishes, diplomats minimize the chances of a new group of Brazilians leaving the Gaza Strip soon.
“It is good not to generate unrealistic expectations,” said a source from Itamaraty, despite the authorities’ optimistic statements.
According to diplomats, around 3,000 foreigners are waiting to leave Gaza and there is little chance that Israel and Egypt will accept new lists before fulfilling the initial requests.
Diplomats also explain that authorities in both countries have been very strict in relation to the criteria adopted for foreigners and their relatives, requiring, for example, citizenship or first-degree kinship.
“New situations for the exit from Gaza will be evaluated, but we have no expectation of when or how,” says the source.
The diplomats also emphasize that they responded to everyone who showed interest as soon as the war began and the first list was drawn up on October 9th.
(Published by Marina Toledo, with information from João Rosa and Raquel Landim)
Source: CNN Brasil
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