Staff from UNHCR and IOM welcome Afghan refugee families arriving at São Paulo International Airport. © Jamile Ferraris/MJSP
GENEVA – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the arrival of the first Afghan refugee families under Brazil’s newly launched Community Sponsorship Programme, a pioneering initiative within Latin America to resettle, protect and integrate people forcibly displaced by the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
The first arrivals – 18 people from four families, including women, children and adolescents – landed yesterday in São Paulo from Pakistan.
Their reception and integration are being supported by Panahgah, a civil society organization tasked by the Brazilian Government to sponsor and accompany refugees throughout their integration journey. Panahgah will welcome a total of 500 people in 2025. Two other civil society organizations – Estou Refugiado Institute and Missão em Apoio à Igreja Sofredora (MAIS) – are also participating in the initiative and will welcome an additional 224 and 200 resettled refugees this year, respectively. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has also supported the process of receiving the families.
The Community Sponsorship Programme enables accredited organizations to nominate refugees for support in Brazil. UNHCR provides technical assistance and training to these sponsors and facilitates dialogue with local authorities and host communities.
“Amid declining global resettlement opportunities and critical humanitarian funding shortages, Brazil’s commitment to expanding community sponsorship is particularly commendable,” said Davide Torzilli, UNHCR Representative in Brazil. “The fact that the integration of these refugee families is being driven by private funding and the engagement of civil society makes this initiative even more noteworthy.”
The continuing instability and deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan have left millions in need of protection. As of the end of 2023, Iran and Pakistan hosted over 5.7 million Afghan refugees and Afghans in refugee-like situations, while 3.2 million people remained displaced within Afghanistan itself.
Brazil has taken significant steps since 2020 – first by acknowledging serious human rights violations in Afghanistan, and later by introducing humanitarian visas for Afghans, with over 13,000 visas granted to date. In 2024, Brazil further strengthened its response by establishing the Community Sponsorship Programme, ensuring new arrivals receive dedicated support for reception, housing, access to rights, and socioeconomic inclusion. Individuals arriving under the initiative are granted humanitarian visas.
Globally, despite 2.9 million refugees projected to need resettlement in 2025 – including over half a million Afghan refugees – available resettlement spaces have dropped sharply, from 195,069 in 2024 to just 31,281 in 2025.
Through community sponsorship, individuals or groups come together to provide financial, emotional and practical support for the reception and integration of refugees who have already been admitted to their country through resettlement. This approach complements traditional resettlement and also provides a life-saving, dignity-restoring solution for refugees who have exhausted other options.
For more information contact:
- In Brazil, Paola Bello, bellop@unhcr.org, +55 11 98875 3256
- In Brazil, Miguel Pachioni, pachioni@unhcr.org, +55 (61) 99914 4049
- In Panama, Luiz Fernando Godinho, godinho@unhcr.org, +507 6356 0074
- In Geneva: William Spindler, spindler@unhcr.org, +41 79 5495998
Originally published by UNHCR on 30 April 2025
