FAB flight with 228 Brazilians from Lebanon arrives in Guarulhos

Returnees were received by President Lula (PT). He arrived at Guarulhos Air Base after voting in the municipal elections in São Bernardo (SP), and welcomed the group with hugs.

Flight was postponed once for safety reasons. Itamaraty planned for the FAB aircraft to leave Beirut on Friday (4), and arrive in Brazil on Saturday (5). The mission, however, was rescheduled due to “the need for additional security measures for ground convoys”.

FAB plans to rescue 500 Brazilians per week. Requests for help were made by around 3,000 Brazilians living in Lebanon due to the escalation of attacks in the region. The country has the largest community of Brazilians in the Middle East, with 21 thousand residents.

Initial rescues will prioritize Brazilians who are not residents of Lebanon. “Based on this and with the availability of seats on the planes, we are working and organizing the lists”, declared the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira.

The operation will be similar to the one that rescued Brazilians from the Gaza Strip. “We are repeating what was done from October to the beginning of this year in relation to Brazilians who were in Palestine and Israel. It was a successful operation”, he recalled.