Population served grew 757% in three years; economic crisis and political persecution are among the causes for emigration
FRANCISCO LIMA NETO AND LUCAS LACERDA
The number of homeless immigrants assisted by the City of São Paulo hit the highest mark of the last four years in 2022. There were 6,387 people from 93 nationalities last year.
There are currently 1,875 immigrants welcomed, according to the Assistance and Social Development portfolio.
Of this contingent, attention is drawn to the rapid growth in the number of people in Angola, which almost quadrupled from 2020 to 2021, jumping from 267 to 1,208 people, doubling the following year to 2,486 welcomed. Since 2019, it has skyrocketed by 757%.
The main reasons for this increase are the linguistic and cultural proximity of Portuguese-speaking countries, the search for Brazilian services such as the SUS and authoritarianism in Angola. In addition, Angolans have a fragile diplomatic situation, with the delay in the analysis of asylum applications, which also makes it difficult to obtain work and increases the demand for assistance.
For Caio Serra, management and information assistant at Crai (Reference and Assistance Center for Immigrants), an example of this migration is the arrival of women at the end of pregnancy, who seek services from the SUS. Other factors are violence and political persecution. Also, Brazil is a transit country for those trying to reach the United States and Canada.
With fewer restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of people looking for Brazil has grown, but already in a fragile economic situation.
CONTINUE AFTER ADVERTISING
The arrival of Afghans to the three main nationalities served may be related to the crisis with the resumption of the Taliban and the ease of obtaining a humanitarian reception visa, which can be requested in countries like Iran and Pakistan, before arriving in Brazil.
The issue is that the country does not have a refugee center like in the European Union, and who welcomes people with more economic vulnerability is the service network for those who go to the street.
Immigrants from Bolivia, in turn, may have accessed equipment for the homeless population after the abrupt drop in textile activity in the city. The closure of establishments, combined with precarious working conditions, caused the income of entire families to drop, as shown by a report by Folha de S.Paulo in 2020.
The reporter was in the vicinity of the Immigrant Welfare Center-Casa de Assis, on Rua Japurá, in Bela Vista, and spoke with a group from Angola.
CONTINUE AFTER ADVERTISING
The young people are under 30 years old, and most asked not to be identified. They look for work to improve their lives, but reveal sadness and a feeling of inadequacy. Angola, according to them, is a dictatorship where there is no freedom of expression. They say that the sentences for protests reach five years, without family visit.
One of the young people says that he arrived in São Paulo on January 20, at the Guarulhos airport, and spent the money he had on a taxi to the city center. As he couldn’t find a place in reception centers, he circulated through church services until he got a place at Casa de Assis.
He says that his countrymen seek Brazil because of the ease of the language, and that the country is better seen in Angola than the colonizer Portugal. The young man left a wife and a young son behind, to bring them with him when he gets better.
Even far from home, he does not show his face for fear that his family will be arrested and tortured to force his return.
CONTINUE AFTER ADVERTISING
André José Finda, 25, also welcomed at the assistance center is an exception, both for showing his face and for the reasons for coming. He attended the University of Belas and majored in international relations and political science. He worked as a wedding party planner.
“Angola lacks very basic issues such as food, housing and medical assistance. Children suffer without hospitals, women have their babies on the floor for lack of beds, people die from malaria [malária]. Cases there are very, very high because basic sanitation is not good. Brazil is not the sky, the sea of roses, but it turns out to have more opportunities for young people ”, he explains.
Finda says her compatriots see Brazil as the land of opportunity.
“In my case, I came to Brazil not because of thirst or hunger, but to expand my professional level. I thought: since I do a lot here, I can do even more there. We see Brazil as the land of opportunities”, she says.
CONTINUE AFTER ADVERTISING
“But, coming here is not how things are said on television. It’s a totally different reality,” she says.
CONTINUE AFTER ADVERTISING
Finda shares a room with eight other Angolans. Like the others, he has to leave the shelter at 8:30 am, after breakfast, he returns at 11:30 am for lunch, he leaves again at 12:30 pm. Dinner is served from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. He needs to be back by 10 pm unless he has work justification.
“I spend all day looking for a job, people look at us sideways. The person doesn’t say it’s because you’re black, an immigrant, but we know, we feel the way the person looks, how the person treats and that makes it difficult”, he reports.
The Angolan left his parents and six siblings in his country of origin, but says he has no regrets.
“I’ve done a lot of interviews, I’m very frustrated because we feel like we know how to do the job. I worked, I had a salary, a house, it makes my heart sad. I think it’s just a phase and it will pass soon”, he says.
He says that another young man who is also at the reception center speaks five languages, but can only get jobs as a kitchen and cleaning help.
“The other boys tell him that here he needs to raise awareness and have a small job, below training because he is black, an immigrant. He is very sad.”
Paulo Inglês, doctor in sociology and African studies and vice-rector for Research and Graduate Studies at Jean Piaget University, in Angola, criticizes his country’s political system.
“Formally it is a democracy, but it is an authoritarian system”, he says. He also claims that public services are precarious, and that the economic situation has deteriorated in recent years.
“After the departure of President José Eduardo dos Santos, who was in power for 37 years, it was thought that the new president, João Lourenço, would open up the economic and democratic system more, but he closed it even more”, he evaluates.
“The majority are young people who are leaving Angola. In addition to the ease of language, there is a certain cultural proximity, since they consume more Brazilian products than Portuguese, from clothing and food to soap operas, movies and reality shows”, he says.
The vice-chancellor also says that there is repression of demonstrations, with reprisals that reach imprisonment and death.
“In addition to all that, one of the new president’s promises was the fight against corruption, but in fact corruption continues. In state structures are mainly people who belong to the ruling party, which has been in power for 48 years”.