Safer haven: Brazil’s emerging refugee programme

How does Brazil rate in its treatment of refugees? How does it deal with applicants? What kind of environment does it provide? This study looks at Brazil’s track record since it emerged from dictatorship in the mid-1980s.

Brazil has expressed concern only relatively recently about the settlement of refugees. Although actively involved in the establishment of the League of Nations, Brazil withdrew from the organisation in the mid-1920s. Thus it did not participate in the international movement for the protection of refugees victimised during the inter-war period.

New research by the University of Brasilia and the Catholic University of Brasilia looks at the situation prior to the 1980s and outlines the steps that the Brazilian government has taken in recent years to address the situation. In 1977, the UNHCR established an office in Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian government accepted its presence, but did not grant it the status enjoyed by international organisations. Furthermore, people who managed to get into the country in the hope of receiving refugee status were granted tourist visas only and were sent to other countries for resettlement.

However, in December 1989, the government removed its geographic limitation on receiving refugees, making it possible for people from any part of the world to be recognised as refugees under Brazilian law. In December 1990, Brazil allowed refugees to enjoy rights of association and paid employment. Further developments include the following:

• Article 4 of the new Constitution, adopted in 1988, recognises human rights as a guiding principle of Brazil’s international relations.
• In 1997, the Brazilian Refugee Act, which had been drafted in collaboration with UNHCR, was signed into law. It was the first comprehensive refugee law in South America.
• In 1998, the National Committee for Refugees (Comitê Nacional para Refugiados) was established.
• Refugee issues have acquired growing importance. There is widespread, growing public awareness of human rights.
• Articles 45 and 46 of the Refugee Act enshrine the voluntary character of resettlement and the need for planning, coordination and determination of responsibilities.
• Brazilian authorities are concerned with ensuring that refugees are well received by the local communities and are successfully integrated. Positive contacts have been made with representatives of civil society to explain the resettlement initiative and to seek support.

Once a temporary haven for asylum seekers, Brazil has become a refugee-receiving country and is today a resettlement option in its own right. These developments flow from the democratic process and human rights improvements that Brazil has undergone since its emergence from dictatorship in the mid 1980s. The report draws the following key conclusions:

• The UNHCR has actively moved the process forward.
• Brazil’s Refugee Act is a modern and coherent legal instrument, in harmony both with the practice carried out by the national authorities and with international and regional norms.
• The Act’s resettlement provisions are the basis of a new phase in refugee in Brazil. Many hope that it will serve as a starting point for harmonising policies and legal instruments for refugee protection throughout Latin America.    

Source(s):
‘Brazil’s Refugee Act: model refugee law for Latin America?’, Forced Migration Review Vol 12, Oxford (Refugee Studies Centre) by José H Fischel de Andrade & Adriana Marcolini, January 2002 Full document.

id21 Research Highlight: 14 November 2002

Further Information:
José H Fischel de Andrade
Lecturer of International Law
University of Brasília (UnB) and Catholic University of
Brasília (UCB)
SBS Ed. Casa de São Paulo, sl. 507
70078-900 Brasília-DF
Brazil

Tel: +44 (0)55 61 226-4654
Fax: +44 (0)55 61 226-4669
Contact the contributor: fischel@zipmail.com

Universidade de Brasilia, Brazil

Adriana Marcolini
Rua Borges de Barros, 157/22
05441-050
São Paulo – SP
Brazil

Tel: +55 11 3679 9187
Fax: +55 11 3679 9187
Contact the contributor: drimarco@terra.com.br

Other related links:
'Leaving home: the World Bank and forced resettlement'

'Refugee protection vs state security: is convergence possible?'

'Unsafe haven? The risk of malaria in refugee camps'

'Resettling refugees: improving the record of failure'

The State of the World's Refugees 2000

NRC publishes the 'Internally Displaced People: A Global Survey'

KIT focuses on Refugees