BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — The influx of Haitian economic migrants into Brazil does not amount to a humanitarian crisis, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency said yesterday while praising the country’s efforts to welcome them.

“It is a difficult situation for the cities where the Haitians are arriving, but it is not a humanitarian crisis,” said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The influx, which began in February 2010 shortly after Haiti was devastated by an earthquake, has been accelerating in recent days.

Most of the Haitians are assembling in the towns of Tabatinga and Brasileia, on Brazil’s northern border with Peru.

In Brasileia alone, there are 1,100 Haitians, many with health problems or reporting to have been abused by traffickers, according to human rights officials.

“The Haitians arrived claiming to be refugees although virtually none of them qualify for this status. But Brazil generously gave them a humanitarian visa so that they can stay in the country and look for work, which is what they are really after,” said the UNHCR spokesman.

For that reason, the UNHCR is not directly involved but has offered to assist Brazilian authorities if needed, the source added.

The Haitians in Brasileia, which has a population of 20,000, are being sheltered in holding centres where authorities are providing food and medical care.

Many of the migrants say they had to pay between US$1,500 and US$5,000 to traffickers in exchange for air passage from Port-au-Prince to Ecuador and Colombia from where they trek to Brazil via Peru and Bolivia.

Brazil, Latin America’s dominant economy, has become the choice destination for Haitian and Bolivian migrants lured by ongoing massive infrastructure projects linked to the country’s hosting of the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Brazil also leads the UN peacekeeping contingent in Haiti.