The Brazilian government is under pressure to rejoin the Migrant Pact, an agreement signed at the UN in 2018 to make immigration safer and build cooperation between countries. After assuming the presidency, Jair Bolsonaro announced the country’s withdrawal from the initiative, and then-Chancellor Ernesto Araújo claimed that immigration was a matter of national sovereignty and therefore there was no room for international regulation.
Starting this Monday, leaders will meet at the 1st International Forum on Migration Review in New York, and the meeting will be used by civil society to demand Brazil’s return to agreements. The appeal will be initiated by the Center for Human Rights and Immigrant Citizenship (CDHIC), the only Brazilian nonprofit accredited to attend the event.
This is the first review of the agreement and the meeting will discuss progress and challenges over the past four years. The results will then be conveyed to the heads of state within the framework of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.
According to the non-governmental organisation, the group’s aim is to “raise the importance of strengthening regional forums and participation of civil society, as well as Brazil’s need to return to the agreement, and harmonizing it in meetings with Brazil, among other issues”. various actors related to this theme.” “The idea is to replace Brazilian civil society organizations,” the NGO says.
“One of the primary themes for us is the importance of governance in migration agreements, namely greater dialogue between international organizations and civil society,” says Thais La Rosa, CDHIC’s executive director.
The pressure for Brazil to return to the agreement comes at a time when immigration flows in the country are increasing exponentially. The monthly number of immigrant registrations increased from 9,015 in March 2021 to 23,784 in March 2022.
In the same comparative period, the number of monthly requests for recognition of refugee status rose from 1,075 in March 2022 to 3,983. Data are from the International Observatory for Migration, provided by the Ministry of Justice.
Despite the side’s objection, the Brazilian government is approaching governments that maintain a different message. In a meeting with Jair Bolsonaro in February, the far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that the two countries would lead an offensive at the UN to prevent immigration from being seen as a right. The Brazilian government did not disclose the statement made by the Bolsonaro ally.
source: Noticias
