2021 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 3(1) A consequence of the inability to work is a lack of funds to meet their basic needs. Citing a lack of work and increased food prices, 14 respondents said they did not have enough food to eat every day. On 7 April 2020, the Brazilian Government created an emergency benefit of BRL600 (USD120) for unemployed people, self-employed people with low income, informal workers and impoverished families for a period of three months. Recently, the benefit was extended but reduced to BRL150 (USD27). 16 Only four of the respondents said that they received it. Several said that they did not have the correct documentation or did not understand how to obtain it. Three respondents could not apply for the benefit because they are undocumented. When asked ‘[b]efore COVID-19, how often did you suffer from struggles with anxiety, lack of sleep, and/or depression?’, the majority of respondents answered ‘[n]ever’ and no one reported ‘[d]aily’ (see Table 1). However, when asked about mental health during the pandemic, the numbers increased, with six respondents noting they suffer mental health issues on a daily basis. A gay male asylum seeker in his 50s shared: ‘I was depressed and the willingness to make a living went down because of all of the negative things that I saw around me all the time.’ His response sheds light on the overlapping precarity that he, and others in similar situations, are facing and how his poor mental health and the lack of jobs combined with the general low morale of the pandemic-stricken world has made his daily life increasingly difficult. Table 1: The frequency of mental health stressors cited by asylum seekers and undocumented migrants: Frequency of mental health Before COVID-19 During COVID-19 stressors (n=19) (n=19) Never 12 6 Yearly 1 0 Monthly 3 1 Weekly 3 6 Daily 0 6 Lastly, with the asylum process halted in Brazil, many unprocessed asylum seekers and displaced peoples have become undocumented migrants. 17 An asylum seeker’s status is only valid for one year, after which extensions are required. These extensions are obtained through the Brazilian Federal Police, whose services are unavailable during the pandemic. 18 Only applicants who understand Portuguese can access the Federal Police’s website to learn how to legally remain in Brazil until September 2021. This information is not clearly communicated to many asylum seekers, including those who were interviewed. They discussed the confusion with their documentation and status, and are actively avoiding the police because of their expired documents. 16 17 18 Patricia Martuscelli, ‘How are Refugees Affected by Brazilian Responses to COVID-19?’ (2020) 54(5) Brazilian Journal of Public Administration 1446, 1453 (‘Refugees Affected’); Ana Ferraz ‘Covid Emergency Aid to be Extended for Two Months’ The Brazilian Report (online, 8 June 2021) <https://brazilian.report/liveblog/2021/06/08/covid-emergency-aidextended-two-months/>. Patricia Martuscelli, ‘How Are Forcibly Displaced People Affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak? Evidence from Brazil’ [2021] American Behavioural Scientist 1, 6, 13. Interview with Emilio Felix (Tyler Valiquette, Zoom, 5 March 2021). 158