Brazil's Foreign Ministry intends to request explanations from the United States government about the "humiliating treatment" of Brazilians during deportation flights, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA, citing a ministry publication in "Ex".
Last Friday, Brazilians deported from the United States arrived in Brazil in handcuffs. Upon arrival, some passengers also reported poor treatment during the flight, local media reported.
The plane, carrying 88 Brazilian passengers, 16 US security agents and eight crew members, was originally scheduled to arrive in Belo Horizonte in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. However, according to the Brazilian Justice Ministry, it made an unscheduled stop in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas, due to technical problems.
There, Brazilian authorities ordered the passengers' handcuffs to be removed, and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ordered a Brazilian Air Force plane to take over the rest of the journey, a government statement said.
According to Brazil's federal police, the flight is the second this year from the United States to deport undocumented migrants and the first since US President Donald Trump took office.
Officials from the US Department of Homeland Security and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters noted.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Monday that he had banned the entry of US military planes carrying deported migrants and said he would only accept civilian flights, where migrants are treated with “dignity“.“A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves. That is why I sent the American military planes carrying Colombian migrants“, the president wrote on the “Ex“ network. Gustavo Petro added that he would accept migrants brought in “passenger planes“, which “are not treated as criminals“.