“Brazilian nationality” was the main reason cited in discrimination complaints reported in Portugal in 2021, accounting for 26.7% of the total of 408 complaints received by the Commission for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination (CICDR).
While, overall, complaints of discrimination fell in the country — a decrease of 37.7% compared to 2020 (655) and 6.4% compared to 2019 (436) —, reports specifically against Brazilians increased. In 2021, there were 109 complaints for this reason, while in 2020 there were 96 reported; an increase of 13.5%.
The jump is particularly expressive compared to 2017, when there were only 17 registrations. That year, however, the overall number of discrimination complaints was also much lower, with 179 complaints. The data is part of the country’s latest “Annual Report on the Status of Racial and Ethnic Equality and Non-Discrimination”, published without fanfare by the Commission against Discrimination on Tuesday (9).
According to the document, “with substantially lower values”, the expressions “gypsy ethnicity”, with 67 complaints (16.4%) and “black/black/black/ black race”, with 65 complaints (15.9%).
The more generic expression “foreigners/foreigners/immigrants in general” appears in fourth position, with 18 complaints (4.4% of the total), “corresponding to cases in which the victims considered themselves discriminated against for being foreigners, immigrants or non-Portuguese, the offense against a specific nationality is not at issue”.
According to data from the SEF (Foreigners and Borders Service), in 2021, legally resident Brazilians accounted for about 30% of the nearly 700,000 foreigners living in the country – this Tuesday, partial data released by the agency indicated that the country’s community continued to grow. .
In Portugal, depending on the characteristics of the case, episodes of ethnic and racial discrimination can be classified as a crime or the so-called misdemeanor, a lesser crime. This is how the majority reported end up classified — thus having lighter punishments. These episodes are analyzed by the CICDR, which has the autonomy and powers to make decisions.
“The CICDR has the power to decide and impose fines [multas] and accessory sanctions within the scope of administrative offences. But such decisions can always be appealed to the courts. Sometimes they are, sometimes they are not”, explains Pedro Barosa, a partner at Abreu Advogados. In 2021, the Commission handed down only two convictions, one fine and one warning (a kind of public warning).
A survey by the Combat project, from the Center for Social Studies (CES) at the University of Coimbra, analyzed discrimination data from 2006 to 2016 and indicated that about 80% of the cases brought by the Commission for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination end up shelved. There was conviction in 7.5% of the cases. However, when the appeals that annulled or challenged these decisions are also considered, the convictions drop to 5.8%.
In the opinion of José Falcão, leader of the NGO SOS Racismo, the few convictions in Portugal mean that, in practice, there is impunity for the crime of racism in the country. “The law does absolutely nothing to combat racial discrimination. This law, as it stands, is useless,” he says, citing the case of deputy André Ventura, leader of the far-right Chega party, as an example.
The parliamentarian was fined €3,770 (R$ 19,700) by the CICDR due to comments considered discriminatory against Roma people made on a Facebook page, but Ventura appealed, and the court acquitted him.
For Falcão, the difficulties in denouncing episodes of discrimination often start in the police stations, when it is still common for the police to discourage complainants.
In an interview with Sheet in July, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Ana Catarina Mendes, stated that the Portuguese government is following up the complaints that already indicated an increase in cases of discrimination, but highlighted that the growth is also related to the greater awareness of migrants on the subject, which ends up being reflected in more complaints.
President of Casa do Brasil in Lisbon, an NGO that provides assistance to the Brazilian community, psychologist Cyntia de Paula also has the perception that immigrants are increasingly attentive. “We have received more reports [de discriminação]but I think that a greater movement of denunciation was also created”, he said.
In this sense, in addition to the growth of racial discussion in several parts, the very characteristics of the new wave of Brazilian migration to Portugal may be contributing to a greater willingness to openly discuss complaints of discrimination. This group, which is more engaged and includes many students, professionals and businessmen, has formed groups and associations and has used social networks to draw attention to the issue.
The subject has been particularly discussed in the country after the great repercussion of the racist offenses made by a Portuguese woman against the children of Brazilian actors Giovanna Ewbank and Bruno Gagliasso. The case took place on July 30 at a restaurant in Costa da Caparica, near Lisbon. The woman was arrested, but later released by the police.
In a statement, the couple’s press office stated that the aggressor “asked them to leave the restaurant and return to Africa, among other absurdities uttered to children as ‘filthy blacks'”. The actors filed a complaint with the police. The Public Ministry confirmed that it opened an investigation into the case.
