Brazil will not use its air force for US migrant deportations

BRASILIA: Brazil will not use its air force planes to assist with the deportation of Brazilian migrants in the United States (US), the South American country’s top diplomat said on Tuesday, just days after a major flare up in neighbouring Colombia over the issue.

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On Sunday, Colombia and the United States pulled back from the brink of a trade war caused by a spat over deportation flights utilizing military aircraft including US planes that transported shackled migrants.

A day later, Brazil summoned a senior US diplomat to discuss the deportation of Brazilian migrants, after it condemned handcuffing of deportees on a flight to repatriate migrants from the United States.

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Brazil’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira told journalists that its citizens cannot be handcuffed in deportation flights while in Brazilian territory, adding that officials plan to discuss with US authorities how to conduct deportation flights in a dignified way.