Where to go: Brazilian COVID after eviction of ‘refugees’ fight | Coronavirus pandemic News

Itaguay, Brazil – He was once happy with Miani Cristina himself. The employer withstood the first devastating wave of COVID-19 infections in Brazil in 2020. The government kept more than 1,000 reais ($ 190) and 41 reais ($ 8) in revenue per month for him and his three children. floating – barely.

Then there was the second devastating wave of COVID-19 in the country. Cristina lost her job. The informal work of 20-year-old and 18-year-old daughters disappeared. Food and gas prices rose.

“I lost all my income and couldn’t pay the rent anymore,” Cristina, a 46-year-old former general service assistant, told Al Jazeera.

Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right president’s government, froze 600 packages ($ 114) in monthly emergency aid and Cristina would have to wait three months for it to start again.

April arrived and after months of losing rents, there was homelessness. Cristina’s pantry was getting more and more naked. But he said he was not entitled to new government reduced monthly allowances because he was still registered as working. He knew he was about to lose his home in a favela in the impoverished Santa Cruz neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro.

So when Cristina’s former colleague sent her a message from WhatsApp about a new solution located in an abandoned land 14 km from home, she uprooted her family and hoped for clearer days.

Just a few months later, while Cristina was looking at the queue of state military police blocking the entrance to the plot that had been her home for the past few months, that hope was lost.

On July 1, police evicted a community of 3,000 people from a 1,792-acre wide encampment on the western outskirts of Rio in Itaguain under the name “May First Refugee Camp” – including Cristina and her three children.

“We have nowhere to go,” Cristina said.

The struggle to stay

The camp was the latest and perhaps the most extensive example of informal settlements that have emerged across the country during the COVID-19 crisis in Brazil, a symbol of the fact that Bolsonaro has not effectively mitigated the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Far from the urban struggles left by the residents and crime-ridden communities, the campground – with biodegradable plastic tents and bamboo mini-kitchens among the raised palm trees – symbolized a new beginning and offered residents a chance to finally be there. they could call home their own.

Jessica Soares, a neighbor of May Day camp, posed for a portrait on June 15 in front of her hut, two weeks before the eviction [Ian Cheibub/Al Jazeera]

In less than two months, the occupiers put in a freshwater cistern, small local shops and a recycling initiative. They were eating three meals a day thanks to food supplies, and the children were playing football freely in the dusty field behind the camp.

They planned to build permanent homes on the field, as well as a school and a vegetable garden so that families could feed themselves on the spot.

But the self-proclaimed “pandemic refugees” were taken over by the state oil company Petrobras because it has occupied land.

In 1986, the company saved the land for a petrochemical park, but the project was relocated to a town near Itaborai, leaving the area vacant for three decades.

Thousands of people lived in tent huts and tents before settling there and being evicted two months later [File: Mario Lobao/AP Photo]

When he learned of the settlement there, Petrobras wanted to expel the community. But Alexandre Eduardo Scisinio, a judge of the 20th Civil Chamber of the Judiciary of the state of Rio de Janeiro, dismissed it on May 7, admitting that the case treats “a considerable number of people in a situation of socioeconomic weakness.”

Residents of the First Camp in May could have been there, he promised, until the Rio State Public Defense Office confirmed the risks of COVID-19 at the end of the year.

Infection rates remain high, and just over 10 percent of people in the state of Rio de Janeiro have been completely vaccinated, according to a follower developed by the Globo media group.

Petrobras filed a new injunction with the High Court of Justice to denounce the “new events” and overturned the decision of Judge Scisinio last week, which led to the July 1 eviction.

A family rested after lunch at the tent on June 15 [Ian Cheibub/Al Jazeera]

Petrobras ’communications department told Al Jazeera by email that the reversal was carried out in accordance with a court order and had the support of social assistance authorities and police. The email added that “support was being offered to families.”

“Teams from the city of Itaguai registered people who expressed interest in going to the shelters,” the company said in a statement. “Petrobras finances food, sterile, blankets and kits with alcohol and masks for families who send them to shelters. Transport to bus stations near the municipality of Itaguai was also offered, and a goods storage and storage service was made available at the warehouse contracted by Petrobras. ”

Many former May Day residents say they have found it on the street again.

After the police evicted people from the First Camp in May, many residents lost their belongings [File: Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]

One month later, the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled to suspend the release of irregular settlements for the next six months across the country, but only for agreements established before March 20, 2020.

Anderson Lopes Miranda, coordinator of the Despejo Zero Sao Paulo housing rights campaign, told Al Jazeera that his group is fighting for a lasting settlement for all settlements established during the pandemic.

But that won’t be decided until the temporary ban on occupations is reviewed by the end of 2021, and more than 64,546 families will be at risk of eviction under the campaign.

High cost of living

The first release in May highlighted the poor response to the overlapping health, economic and housing crises in the country of Bolsonaro.

In April, Bolsonaro reiterated that “it is essential to return the right of men and women to work in the country” but the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics saw COVID-19 as a long-term crisis that raised unemployment rates in Brazil. It reached 14.7 percent in the first quarter of 2021.

Cloviomar Cararine, an economist and analyst at the Department of Statistics and Socio-Economic Research, says the reduction in emergency aid, along with inflation, has overstated 19 million Brazilians fighting for food and other basic needs.

Residents of the camp were open with other belongings sitting on the ground after being thrown from the site on July 1 [Ian Cheibub/Al Jazeera]

This is partly due to the fact that the median fuel price made by Petrobras is in line with the international price of fuel and the increase in import costs, Cararin explained. High fuel costs can also increase the prices of other consumer goods and transportation, which affects Brazilians on low incomes disproportionately.

“Because of Petrobras’ pricing policy, Brazilian consumers are dealing with international prices. Brazil has become a major exporter of basic food products such as soy, rice and meat. The constant rise in gas and gasoline prices is increasing transportation costs, so that Brazilians are paying the prices of the dollar and the euro. ”

This makes this year’s government support far beyond survival.

Jose Costa, 66, a former resident of May Day camps, told Al Jazeera that he arrived at the camp this year when his monthly government support was reduced by half and that he could no longer pay bills or rent.

“I received help, but it wasn’t enough to pay my light bill,” he said.

Housing crisis

Even before the COVID-19 hit, the homeless population in Brazil is on the globe.

Marcelo Machado, a researcher at the Homeless Nucleus at the Fiocruz Health Institute, told Al Jazeera that there are worrying single mothers and families among those who lose their homes.

“Specifically in Rio, we are seeing a lot of people living on the streets, including young workers, families and women as a result of the pandemic,” Machado told Al Jazeera.

“Our public policies involve paying rent and getting food is easy for everyone. But the moment an employee loses their income, it’s on the street, ”he said.

Among those expelled from the First Camp in May were families with children. Demographics that housing advocates warn are becoming part of Brazil’s homeless population. [File: Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]

In April this year, the government had a low income of 98 percent of the “Minha Casa, Minha Vida” program for low-income Brazilians, a move that will leave more people unprotected. , advocates warn.

Chronovirus vaccines are still a few months away for children and teens – and after the arrival of a more contagious Delta variant and confirmed colder winter temperatures – the coming months are likely to be tough for those living outside.

The expulsion from the First Camp in May had already exacerbated the serious situation for Cristina, who said she had lost most of her other belongings when the land was cleared, including ID cards needed to apply for government aid.

“All my personal documents were there,” he said. “How are we going to eat now?”