São Paulo – The 3rd Brazilians Worldwide Conference, to take place on December 2nd and 3rd, in Rio de Janeiro, should kick-start the activities of the Council of Representatives of Brazilians Abroad. The members of the council, to be a link between the Brazilian communities abroad and the country government, were elected this year. The group should work to supply the demands of Brazilians abroad.
On July 15th, president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a decree establishing the guidelines of a governmental policy for Brazilian communities abroad. "The promotion of the 3rd Conference is a beacon for this policy for Brazilian communities abroad. We are going to present the first demands of the Brazilians," said the undersecretary-general of Brazilian Communities Abroad, Eduardo Gradilone.
A total of 16 members were elected to the Council of Brazilian Representatives Abroad as well as another 16 substitutes. In total, 298 candidates ran for the post of substitutes and received votes from 21,000 Brazilians worldwide. On December 3rd, at the meeting in Rio, Lula should inaugurate the council, to be the first of the kind in Brazil and to have support of the Foreign Ministry.
According to Gradilone, this conference is the most important event for interaction between the government of Brazil and leaders of Brazilian communities abroad, representing three million people. The first conference took place in 2008 and, since then, the Itamaraty has been promoting one a year. "We are going to the 3rd conference with a legal framework," said the undersecretary-general.
The main demands and requests of Brazilians abroad are connected to consular services and assistance, policy in general, education, social service, labour, health, human rights, culture and economic themes. These demands were divided into groups and a system for recording them has been established. "Some topics are general, valid for all Brazilians abroad, including, for example, the appreciation of the image of Brazilians," said Gradilone.
Among the members of the council of representatives, one of the three elected to represent the rights in Lebanon, which is part of Grupo 4, and includes the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Oceania, is Roberto Khatlab, a researcher and historian. According to him, most of the Brazilians who live in the Middle East have dual nationality so they do not face the problems of adaptation and foreign permanence. This is a difference from other regions, where most of the members are Brazilian foreigners in the country of immigration.
The demands of the Middle East are more consular, family questions, for example, like divorce and guard of kids, as the laws in the region are different from those of Brazil. Khatlab suggests the establishment of a booklet for Brazilians in the Middle East, presenting the laws and traditions of the region.
*Translated by Mark Ament
