São Paulo – Brazil plans to welcome more Syrian refugees to help the countries that are overwhelmed by the flow of refugees from the civil war in Syria. According to the National Secretary of Justice, Beto Vasconcelos, the minister of Justice, Eugênio Aragão, “begun negotiations of resettlement [of refugees], which should be done in a consolidated manner”.
Vasconcelos attended this Friday (1) the launching of Entrepreneur Refugee Project, created by a partnership between the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) and the National Committee for Refugees (Conare), agency of the Ministry of Justice headed by Vasconcelos.
“The idea is to reduce the humanitarian crisis and integrate those that are facing the crisis where it’s greater”, said Vasconcelos in reference to nations such as Jordan and Lebanon. The latter, for instance, has only 4 million people, but already welcomed 1.2 million refugees of its neighbor nation.
The project is still in the early stages. “It would be more complex to receive the people that already moved and are, in one way or the other, settled in a European nation. But Brazil is open top proposals”, he said. He mentioned as an example the Canadian project. In it, companies and people fund the settlement of refugees.
Still according to Vasconcelos, this proposal shows the Brazilian interest in helping the countries and people affected by the refugee crisis, the largest since the end of the Second World War in 1945. Brazil is hosting 8,600 refugees, the majority of them Syrians. Since the beginning of the conflict in September of last year, 2,077 Syrians received asylum in Brazil.
Entrepreneurs
This Friday, Conare and Sebrae signed an agreement for the creation of the Entrepreneur Refugee Project. The project is aimed at training immigrants and refugees interested in open their own business. The agreement was signed by Vasconcelos, Sebrae’s president, Guilherme Afif Domingos, and by director of Management and Finance of Sebrae-SP, Pedro Jehá.
It’s an experimental project. Organizations that work to welcome refugees will gather those interested until April 23, with a lecture scheduled for April 26. In it, they will receive a login and password to watch e-learning classes until May 21. Their participation will be monitored by Sebrae Nacional. The most assiduous students will receive on-site training, in which they will have classes on entrepreneurship, formalization of business and management.
Sebrae’s president said that the project is a way to promote generation of income, integration and jobs, and reminded that to undertake shows the capacity of a professional to take risks. “Those seeking refuge in a new land already took all the risks. Since they are out of their comfort zone, they are driven to develop. This is an opportunity to live and work on their own, something that is the dream of Brazilians also”, said Afif, who is of Lebanese descent.
Also attending the meeting were organizations that work in the welcoming and support of refugees, such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Arab and South American Library and Research Center (Bibliaspa), Missão Paz and Fundação Oasis, among others.
Participation in the project is free for the refugees and those interested should contact Conare. They must speak basic-level Portuguese, have being in Brazil for at least a year and have a CPF (Taxpayer Registration Card). The classes via web will be given in Portuguese, English and Spanish, but the on-site ones only in Portuguese.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
