Aeropuertos 2000, the company that has the concession for the Jorge Newbery metropolitan airport, located in the middle of the Argentine capital and from which dozens of flights depart daily to domestic and international destinations, reported in a statement that for several months it had increased to 160 number of homeless people who spent the night in the terminal.
“Faced with this situation, work has been done uninterruptedly to provide assistance to these people and offer them the alternatives corresponding to their required situation setting,” the company said.
The eviction operation was led by the Ministry of Human Development and Habitat of the Buenos Aires mayor’s office in coordination with the Airport Security Police.
Although the homeless were transferred to shelters at the mayor’s office, several of them chose to remain in the vicinity of the air terminal despite the low winter temperatures.
“They took me out like a dog with my little things,” said Laura Cardozo, in a wheelchair, interviewed by Argentine television. The woman explained that she has lived in the airport for two years and that she did not accept the transfer to a shelter because “they steal your things and they can kill you.”
According to images released by local media, several homeless people settled with blankets in the seats located on the outskirts of the air station.
A survey of the Buenos Aires mayor’s office in April reported 3,511 people living on the streets, 34% more than in the same month of 2022, an effect of social deterioration exacerbated by inflation that accumulates 42.2% in the first five months of this year.
Almost 40% of the population of Argentina is poor, according to figures for the second half of 2022, and of that percentage, 8.1% are destitute, that is, they cannot meet their food needs.
FUENTE: Associated Press
