On 1 January 2023, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva became President of Brazil, a post he previously held for two terms between 2003 and 2010. The Presidential ceremony was , intended to signify a shift away from the approach taken by Jair Bolsonaro, whose four-year term in office was marked by a and significant .
In an emotionally charged , Lula vowed to rebuild the country, improve the lives of poor Brazilians, work towards racial and gender equality, and achieve zero deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
Expectations for Lula’s return are high, who arrived in Brazil following the that devastated their country in 2010. Many still struggle to secure access to justice in a country built on the enslavement of indigenous peoples and millions of black Africans.
The legacy of slavery
Brazil has a – which continues to affect people of African descent. An estimated to work in the country’s sugar-based plantation economy – and when slavery was eventually abolished in 1888, far later than any other country in the Americas, the lives of Afro-Brazilians did not change drastically.
Many freed slaves entered into informal agreements with their former owners, exchanging free labor in return for food and shelter.
White Brazilian elites, concerned they could become a minority, also implemented a policy of , or ‘whitening,’ through European immigration which aimed to limpar o sangue (cleanse the blood). This was justified on the grounds that Brazil could not flourish with a largely black population, a legacy that continues today through prevalent throughout contemporary Brazilian society; reflected in widespread human rights abuses towards Afro-Brazilians and poverty rates that are
Haitian migration to Brazil
Haiti has its own . After securing independence and abolishing slavery, Haiti was severely punished by the international community and forced to make huge debt repayments to France, pushing the country into a cycle of debt that hobbled its development for more than 100 years. Once the wealthiest colony in the Americas, Haiti is now the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, with .
The massive earthquake that shook Haiti in January 2010 . It also led to the large-scale displacement of Haitians looking for ways to feed themselves and their families. Although Haitians had not previously migrated in large numbers to Brazil, word spread about opportunities there, particularly in the and the
In 2012, as a response to the , the government opened up an opportunity for Haitians to regularize their status through . As of 2020, the Haitian population living in Brazil was estimated to be around 143,000.
The experience of Haitian migrants
Humanitarian visas provide opportunities for regular migration for those who . Yet more than a decade after their introduction, the lives of Haitians in Brazil are : on the one hand a system has been created to draw them to the country, but on the other their reception is arbitrary and unplanned.
Our work with the and its local partner, the (IMJA), has highlighted three main issues.
Firstly, although the right to family life is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, many Haitians are unable to arrange for their families to join them in Brazil. , even for those who have refugee status, and . Many Haitians have difficulties securing the necessary documentation to be reunited with family members.
Furthermore, they face challenges associated with travel to and from Haiti due to a lack of direct flights since the COVID-19 pandemic and transit visa requirements. This problem has been exacerbated by the in Haiti following the of President Mo?se in July 2021. Unable to protect their families in Haiti, or even contribute to meeting their immediate needs, Haitians in Brazil feel helpless and hopeless. They also feel frustrated by the Haitian government’s inability to support them, including through the provision of documentation.
Secondly, the economic opportunities that many Haitians believed would be available to them in Brazil have proved to be elusive. There is evidence that Haitian quake survivors were forced to while building a multi-million dollar stadium for the 2014 World Cup and during . Moreover, qualified migrants are often due to the cost and complexity of the Brazilian authentication process. When Brazil fell into an economic recession in 2014, many Haitians were left without employment and fewer pathways to permanent legal status.
Finally, responses to the migration of Haitians have been . Without relatives and friends, most . They find it extremely difficult to secure regular jobs due to xenophobia, racism, and social class prejudice. Haitians and other black migrants have also been the victims of physical violence.
What next for Brazil’s Haitian community?
Lula inherits a country, one which was and is politically polarized: he won the election and as the demonstrate, opposition supporters continue to dispute Lula’s victory.
, Brazil still faces a huge gap between the country’s richest and the rest of the population, including black migrants and indigenous Afro-Brazilians.
But Brazil’s potential is also huge and Lula’s return marks a potentially important turning point. The country has already started to reverse its on the international stage, announcing its return to the which signals Lula’s intention to address the issues facing migrants in Brazil.
He can also reframe migration narratives – shifting the anti-immigrant narratives that dominated Bolsonaro’s presidency and undermined the rights of Haitian migrants and promoting the potential for migration to become a driver of development.
Lula needs to further address the specific issues facing the Haitian community who, more than a decade since the earthquake, remain unable to secure access to rights and opportunities for integration in Brazil. Immediately after the earthquake, and said that Haitians could come to Brazil and that they would be received with open arms. Now is the time to translate that welcome into action, addressing the pressing issue of family reunion in the context of Haiti’s increasing insecurity and economic precarity.
Finally, Lula, , has committed himself to addressing the structural racial inequalities that shape the lives of indigenous, black, and Afro-Brazilian communities. His decision to appoint the sister of murdered anti-racist activist as Brazil’s new Minister of Racial Equality is a signal that he intends to rebuild the anti-racist laws and policies dismantled over recent years. Given Brazil’s history, this may well prove to be the most important change.
Suggested citation: Crawley Heaven., "From Despair to Hope? Securing Rights for Haitian Migrants in the New Brazil," 糖心Vlog破解版-CPR (blog), 2023-01-10, 2023, /cpr/blog-post/despair-hope-securing-rights-haitian-migrants-new-brazil.
