Luisa Pascoareli – WNN Features

(WNN) São Paulo, BRAZIL: Known throughout the world as a ‘welcoming’ country, Brazil in the last decade has opened its doors to more than 286,000 immigrants. They have come from a diverse group of global regions, all for different reasons, coming from the United States, Japan, Paraguay, Portugal and Bolivia, according to IBGE – Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. But when it comes to Latin American migrants lives, some refugees experiences are often filled with exclusion and hardship.

In a meeting in the city of São Paulo, Brazil held by Adus, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that “aims to seek new alternatives related to the integration of resident refugees,” the ongoing problems for refugees entering the region is process that includes discrimination. Helping refugees find dignity with a way out of poverty and a sustainable career is a challenge, in spite of the Brazilian Refugee Act Bill in 1997, an act of legislation that hoped to bring ‘integration’ in Brazil, but met with continued limitations to migrants that have come to Brazil from Latin America.

Rosa* is a Colombian migrant woman who came to Brazil three months ago seeking refugee status. Since her displacement in Colombia, where decades of fear and rural paramilitary conflict has caused ongoing destabilization, Rosa became part of the tide of migrants displaced by circumstances beyond her control. Since arriving in Brazil she has been looking for a job in Brazil to help support her family. But her efforts have not brought her luck to find what she needs.

“Female labour migrants are frequently confined to low-skilled jobs in domestic and care work, hotel and catering services, the entertainment and sex industry, agriculture and assembly lines,” says the OSCE – Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in a October 2010 International Organization for Migration report. “This includes many skilled or highly skilled women who face downgrading and deskilling in the country of destination,” continued the OSCE.

Through a one-on-one interview with WNN – Women News Network in São Paulo, Rosa shared her opinion that Brazil is “not as friendly” as she first thought. With a certificate in Culinary Arts and Gastronomy and experience as a food chef in Colombia, Rosa has had no luck finding a job despite São Paulo’s busy restaurant industry as the capital city in the richest state in Brazil.

“I took a step back and tried a [job] vacancy as a kitchen helper, but even with this I am not getting a chance,” outlined Rosa. “The employers here ask for experience in[side] Brazil and I don´t have it, despite having it in my own country,” she continued.

There are challenges in a new country for women migrants. Not knowing the native Portuguese language in Brazil is one of them. It can be one of the biggest problems for Colombian women who are trying to get refugee status. The other problem for women from Colombia is their gender.

While male migrants from Colombia may find jobs once they become documented, like Ricardo*, a former policeman from Colombia who’s love of wine helped get him a solid job in the hospitality industry in Brazil, women are often excluded from job opportunities that are higher paying under discrimination.

For Alexandra Aparicio, Latin American Manager at Refugees United, an institution that helps to search for refugees around the world who have lost touch with their families, women migrants face a distinct problem in the labor market today in Brazil. The prejudice for Colombian women migrants is pernicious and twofold.

“The refugee woman is a survivor,” says Aparicio. “She has a huge desire to integrate into a new country so she can take care of her family.”

“We have to see if they are in condition to look for work, and this can hold back the search,” says Cristina Morelli, Coordinator at Cáritas São Paulo, a Catholic organization in São Paulo, that is part of the larger organization Cáritas Internationalis, which has current outreach programs in 200 different countries in the seven global regions.

Cáritas is one of six civil organizations that has partnered closely with UNHCR – United Nations Refugee Agency in Brazil. One program called CEAT, translated literally to mean ‘Worker’s Job Centers’, helps refugees look for work. But for Marcelo Haydu, Executive Director of Adus, this is not enough for refugees who are “competing with Brazilians” for jobs.

“That´s why we go personally to the companies to explain the refugees´ situation,” said Haydu. “For women it can be harder as many come from countries where they are not allowed to work…,” he added.

Recently launching a 2012 database that highlights the work experience and resumes of numerous migrants who have received refugee status in Brazil, the UNHCR in São Paulo along with local partners, are hoping that this database will be used by companies around Brazil. Some refugees have already been offered work, but the program may not be helping migrants who are waiting to get refugee status.

Luis Fernando Godinho, spokesperson for UNCHR Brazil, believes there is a huge lack of information in the labour market about refugees in Brazil. Discrimination against migrants is common. “The word ‘refugee’ to the Portuguese [in Brazil] means ‘unhappy’,” outlined Godinho.

Employment is just one of the many issues that 4,477 refugees, 25 percent of them women living today in Brazil, face.

Research by Cáritas in São Paulo shows that lack of permanent housing, good health, or knowledge of Brazil’s native language are some of the main obstacles facing many African and Latin American migrant women entering the region. They also often suffer under discrimination, based on lack of steady past employment and education.

To see more of this important story with video and special reports LINK TO PAGE 2 below > > >

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