Children and adolescents aged 5 to 14 years are more than half of the people recognized as refugees by Brazil last year, shows a report published this Monday (20), World Refugee Day, by the Observatory of International Migration (OBMigra).
In all, 1,555 people in this age group received refugee status out of a total of 3,086 who had their applications accepted by the National Committee for Refugees (Conare). country of origin.
The figure is noteworthy because it is substantially higher than in previous years – in 2020, 2.7% of the requests accepted by the State were from people between 5 and 14 years old, and, in the previous year, only 0.8%.
Tadeu de Oliveira, coordinator of statistics at OBMigra, says that the scenario demands greater attention from Brazil. “This requires specific public policies, as this is a much more vulnerable segment.”
Conare said in a statement that the growth in the proportion of children may be related to the record recognition of 50,000 Venezuelans as refugees in recent years. The jump in the number of minors, who need to prove family ties or legal custody with refugees to also be identified as such, would follow.
The demographic composition of the group of Venezuelans who requested asylum in the country in 2021 helps to support the argument: 35.9% were under 15 years old. The figure is below 30% for other nationalities seeking refuge in Brazil, with the exception of Colombians (34.8%).
Oliveira highlights the growth of younger people also among those requesting access to refugee status. Brazil received 29,107 such requests last year, 31.6% of which were under 15 years old. In 2020, it was 23%.
Specialists in humanitarian assistance say they understand how the dynamics of immigration, especially Venezuelan, have changed the dynamics of the refuge.
Vivianne Reis, founder of I Know My Rights, which works to defend the rights of refugee children, reports that, before the pandemic, the project served 400 children. Now, there are more than a thousand — and there is a queue. She also highlights the change in the profile of the families served: if before less than 14% were single parents, now they are more than half.
Reis has been working on the subject for 11 years and says that the State’s challenge is great. “Due to the dynamics of integration that takes place in Brazil, children are invisible; they are indirectly benefited as their adult guardians are benefited, but there is no approach to understanding the impacts of forced migration at this stage of human development.”
Conare analyzed around 71,000 requests for recognition of refugee status in 2021. The record number for the decade is part of an effort to alleviate demand from previous years. Most were denied or shelved. Among those who had their application accepted, 77% are from Venezuela and 11.8% from Cuba. The most common justification is persecution for political reasons.
change in the profile of the job market
The report also points out that Venezuelans have overtaken Haitians and become the main group of migrant labor in the formal labor market in Brazil.
The scenario results from a double factor, explains Oliveira, from OBMigra. More Venezuelans are being hired since migration resumed following the loosening of restrictions against Covid. But the number of Haitians being laid off has also grown.
Last year, 35,700 Haitians were hired and 54,000 fired – a negative balance. For Venezuelans, the figure is practically reversed; 53,200 were hired, while 33,500 lost their jobs.
“A good part of Haiti’s economy is supported by the remittances that emigrants send,” he says. OBMigra’s hypothesis is that, with the economic crisis in Brazil, many Haitians are deciding to leave the country and emigrate to other nations, such as Chile and the USA.
