São Paulo – An awareness campaign will encourage the population of the state of São Paulo to welcome immigrants and fight xenophobia – i.e. discrimination against foreigners. Imigrante, São Paulo te Acolhe (Immigrant, São Paulo Welcomes You) will kick off next Tuesday (25) at state-run immigrant integration and citizenship facility Centro de Integração da Cidadania (CIC) do Imigrante.
The State Secretariat for Justice and Citizenship said actions will include messages on social media and places like the metro, bus terminals and airports, including disclosure of the services available to immigrants and refugees.
It also said, quoting Federal Police data, that there are 538,000 immigrants living in São Paulo, and 1.19 million living in Brazil. Refugees in the country hail from Venezuela, Haiti, Angola, Senegal, Syria, Cuba and elsewhere
In both the state and the city of São Paulo, many initiatives are in place to welcome and protect foreigners. One of them is the Secretariat for Justice’s Núcleo de Enfrentamento ao Tráfico de Pessoas, whose job it is to fight human trafficking. It coordinates the State Committee on Refugees (Comitê Estadual para Refugiados), taking in all reports of abuse, xenophobia, human trafficking, slave labor and more.
CIC do Imigrante, which is affiliated with the Secretariat, offers 25 different services to immigrants, including resumé drafting; guidance on access to education, healthcare, formal labor, and on obtaining migrant status recognition; Portuguese language courses; professional training courses, etc. Some of these services are available via partnerships.
The campaign launch at 10 am will feature arterial hypertension, diabetes and eye exams, including donation of eyeglasses; aesthetic procedures; haircuts, etc. The Secretariat for Economic Development’s entrepreneurship, income and labor chapter Coordenadoria de Empreendedorismo, Renda e Trabalho (CERT) will offer labor force brokerage services, with two companies that will select job candidates.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
