Urbanities,
Vol. 3
·
No 2
·
November 2013
© 2013
Urbanities
15
interest in establishing its regional and international leadership, and in consolidating its influence
in international agencies.
The increased requests for temporary and permanent work visas in Brazil by workers
from countries such as the United States, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, India, China,
Portugal, Spain, Italy and others intensify the discussion on the profile of the immigrant desired
by the Brazilian labour market. This is due to the increased demand for skilled labour in some
sectors of the Brazilian economy, like infrastructure, gas, oil and healthcare. According to the
Ministry of Labour and Employment (MTE), in 2009, 42,914 requests were granted, jumping to
73,022 in 2012, an increase of 70% in three years. These workers are mostly male (90%) with
college education, including masters and doctoral degrees (60%), and with labour contracts of up
to two years. However, bureaucratic delays in issuing visas pose a great challenge to those who
seek temporary work and is of great concerns to the Brazilian government. Moreover, those who
intend to remain in Brazil face other challenges, such as the revalidation of their diplomas, which
is a slow and costly process.
If, on one hand, capital needs skilled labour for its reproduction, it also needs a labour
force with fewer skills, preferably one that is poorly paid and without guaranteed rights, as is the
case of the men and women workers in the clothing sector of the garnement industry in São Paulo
(Silva 1997, 2008b). In this case, nationality is of little importance, because immigrants are
defined by their condition as temporary and often undocumented workers (Sayad 1998), a fact
which places them in a situation of total vulnerability.
In the case of the Haitians this risk was avoided, at least at first, by the humanitarian visa
they were given. Nevertheless, the defense of their rights will largely depend on how they are
positioned in the struggle for their citizenship in Brazil. The formation of a committee to organize
their stay in Tabatinga (AM), which they called the Haitian Committee, was the first step taken to
alleviate the sub-human conditions to which they were submitted at that border (Silva 2012). The
rise of new organizations such as the Association of Haitian Immigrants in Brazil (AIHB), in
Pelotas (RS), is an indication of how they plan to address their treatment in Brazil.
The presence of Haitians in the Amazonian States reveals the contradictions of how civil
society and the Brazilian government have dealt with migratory issues in Brazil. Not only has the
lack of preparation by official institutions in the face of emergency situations like this become
visible, but it has also exposed the competing positions within the government about the need to
reconsider migratory policy and legislation. These impasses must be overcome for Brazil to
continue its economic advancement. Brazil must implement policies that respond democratically
to the challenges raised by current migrations that must be understood as also making a
contribution to the sociocultural development of the Brazilian people.
