By Melissa Van Brunnersum, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On April 9th, the Brazilian government made the decision to grant priority treatment to Haitians who intend to live in Brazil. The government can now provide temporary visas and residence permits for humanitarian purposes up to two years.
The decree was published in the Official Gazette of the Federal Government and is authorized by the Itamaraty, the Ministries of Justice, Public Security, and Labor. The visa will be issued exclusively by the Brazilian embassy in Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince.
While the visa can only be issued for two years, it can be transformed into an indefinite residence permit after the person has lived in Brazil for a period of two years. The government proclaims that the visa is determined on a humanitarian basis to provide shelter for those in need. The same regulations apply to stateless persons living in Haiti.
The decision was made to clarify details from the enforcement of the Migration Law, which came into effect last year. In a statement, Brazil’s Foreign Ministry said that new regulations “can be published in the future to cover concrete situations”.
The Ministry also highlighted that the measure would tighten control of humanitarian policy for Haiti in the field of migration, and can prevent illegal and dangerous routes to Brazil. Since 2012, Brazil has granted over 60,000 visas in an effort to help Haiti rebuild itself after the 2010 earthquake that affected millions of Haitians and destroyed large parts of the country’s infrastructure.
As Brazil expects an increase in Haitian migrants, it will need to address the current lack of public policies, which have already come under criticism since the 2010 earthquake. Brazil is still pulling itself out of recession, and Haitian migrants living in Brazil have previously expressed concern about access to healthcare, education, and the labor market.