The city of Rio de Janeiro will have a policy aimed at protecting the rights of the migrant and refugee population. The municipality must guarantee, among other rights, the well-being of children, adolescents and young migrants and refugees, accessibility to public services, assistance in municipal services, in addition to facilitating the identification of this population through the documents they already have . These and other measures are provided for in Law nº 7730/2022, which establishes principles and guidelines for the Municipal Policy for the Protection of the Rights of the Migrant and Refugee Population, approved by the City Council of Rio and sanctioned yesterday (21) by Mayor Eduardo Paes. The project was presented in the Chamber after the murder of Congolese refugee Moïse Mugenyi Kabagambe, 24, in Barra da Tijuca, in January. The law was authored by Councilwoman Thais Ferreira (PSOL) with co-authorship by Paulo Pinheiro (PSOL), Tarcísio Motta (PSOL), Chico Alencar (PSOL), Monica Benicio (PSOL), William Siri (PSOL) and Marcelo Arar (PTB) . According to the parliamentarians, xenophobia and invisibility in relation to the migrant and refugee population “is a structural problem in a world where displacement is constant and the number of migrants and refugees increases every year”, they state in the justification of the proposition. They add that the city of Rio de Janeiro has a large, growing and diverse community of migrants and refugees or asylum seekers. “Reports about the great difficulties and violations of rights, especially labor, of migrants and refugees were already a constant in the local and national press”. In addition, the murder of Kabagambe “highlights the effects of racism and xenophobia and underscores the duty and urgency of the Public Power’s attention to the issue, in order to protect and promote the rights of the migrant and refugee population”, they state. Application of the law “Welcoming people means, for the city, a full manifestation of culture, it means qualified labor and new visions. It means making the economic system run better, in addition to providing these people with a better quality of life than they find in their countries”, says the coordinator of Human Rights of the Municipality’s Secretary of Citizenship, Matheus Andrade. Among the actions already foreseen, according to Andrade, who is also president of the Municipal Committee for Care Policies for Refugees, Immigrants and Stateless Persons (Compar-Rio), is the inauguration, in January, of a reference center for migrant care , in addition to drawing up a municipal action plan for the coming years aimed at this population. “I am happy that the municipality of Rio has looked out for these people, to improve reception and inclusion, to offer quality employment to those who chose the city of Rio de Janeiro”, says Andrade. For the director of the NGO Pacto pelo Direito de Migrar and vice-president of Compar-Rio, Mário Undiga, the law is positive, but it is necessary to guarantee that it is actually implemented. “It’s on paper, now we need it to be applied”, he emphasizes. Undiga also defends greater participation of migrants in decision-making. “The lack of protection and vulnerability are glaring”, he says and adds: “you can only imagine our situation. Those of us who are experiencing all of this need to be heard.” Migration Law Nationally, among other measures, Brazil has the Migration Law, law 13.445/2017, in force since 2017. The law treats the migratory movement as a human right and guarantees the migrant, on an equal basis with nationals, the inviolability of the right to life, liberty, security and property. It also institutes the temporary visa for humanitarian reception, to be granted to the stateless person or to the national of a country who, among other possibilities, is in a situation of serious and generalized violation of human rights. According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at least 89.3 million people worldwide were forced to leave their homes. Among them are nearly 27.1 million refugees, nearly half of whom are under the age of 18. At the end of 2021, Brazil had 60,011 people recognized as refugees.
Agência Brasil
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