NEW COUNTRY, NEW LIFE, NEW WORK:
A CASE STUDY OF INCORPORATION OF REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEK-ERS INTO THE LABOUR MARKET IN SÃO PAULO
Master Thesis in the Master Program
International Migration and Intercultural Relations (IMIB):
Erasmus Mundus Master in International Migration and Social Cohesion (MISOCO)
By
Laurie Borreli dos Reis Student ID Number: 965779
Supervisors:
Dr. Jens Schneider (University of Osnabrück)
Dr. Jeroen Doomernik (University of Amsterdam)
Prof. Felipe Gomez Isa (University of Deusto)
Refugees suffer psychological damage when they are unable to recover from the losses of their past because the insecurity of their present prevents them from forming
attach-ments and looking towards a positive future.
ABSTRACT
Brazil has stood out not only as a new destination but also by its preeminence regarding
the protection of refugees and asylum seekers. But despite the legal protection, refugees
and asylum seekers still face many challenges to be incorporated into the labour market,
which is a pillar of Durable Solutions from UNHCR. It is known that their previous
human capital is not always compatible with the new society, and because of that they
are forced to appeal to their social network, therefore this research thesis aims to
an-alyse the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers trying to enter the Brazilian labour
market and the main obstacles faced during this access in the biggest city of Brazil: São
Paulo. With the empirical data acquired from interviews compared to state of the art it is
concluded that there should have more support from international organisations in
part-nership with local government for the resettlement of refugees and asylum seekers in
Sao Paulo.
Key words: refugees, asylum seekers, labour market, cultural capital, social capital, Sao
TABLE OF CONTENT
Preface……….01
1. Introduction……….03
1.1. Working Hypothesis and Research Questions………..06
1.2. Organisation of the Study……….07
2. Theoretical Framework………..…11
2.1. Conceptual Framework………12
2.1.1. Cultural Capital……….12
2.1.2. Skills Determination………..16
2.1.3. Social Capital……….19
2.1.4. Integration and Belonging……….23
2.2. State of the Art………..24
2.2.1. Lamba and Refugees in Canada………24
2.2.2. Colic-Peisker and Tilbury and Refugees in Australia………27
3. Background and Contextualisation……….30
3.1. Brazil and Refugees………..30
3.1.1. Brazilian Authors……….…………..34
3.2. Refugees versus Asylum Seekers……….36
3.3. Migrants and the Labour Market in Brazil……….…………..38
3.4. Social Organisations……….42
4. Methodology………..45
4.1. Research Sample………..46
4.3. Data Collection……….48
4.4. Reflection and Ethical Considerations……….50
5. Empirical Analysis……….52
5.1. Brazil as a Destination Country and the Main Obstacles……….52
5.2. From Occupational Status to Network Ties………..63
5.3. Crucial Barriers in the Context of São Paulo……….…..70
5.3.1. Racism and Discrimination……….70
5.3.2. Political and Economic Crisis……….74
5.3.3. Recognition of Diplomas and Certificates………..76
5.4. Further Remarks………..77
6. Conclusion……….……82
References………..…….88
Annex………..…95
PREFACE
The years of 2013 and 2014 were striking to me because it was the period that I
led a project in Sao Paulo that sought to support refugees and asylum seekers to join the
the labor market in Sao Paulo. At that time there was little knowledge among the local
population about the topic of refuge, since the news about refugees fleeing Syria was
not really recurrent in the Brazilian media. Therefore finding information and reports
about incorporation of refugees in host countries was not an easy task. This experience
motivated me to further study this topic and try to understand the obstacles faced by
refugees and asylum seekers while looking for incorporation into the labour market in
order to find any solution to facilitate this process.
In these terms, this thesis represents a junction of my experience in the field and
the academic cycle, and it is necessary to recognise the support of special people along
the way.
Firstly I thank God for wisdom and the opportunity to use my knowledge
look-ing for better life for vulnerable people. I recognise that without the participation of
many special people this study would not be possible, therefore I thank my family and
friends that although the distance, they have always motivated me in following my
dreams.
I also would like to thank my fellow MISOCOs and the administration staff that
made this program a reality. The three organisations during my field work which gave
me an invaluable support and an immense help in finding respondents, taking into
I am also grateful for those who assisted me during the writing process, in
spe-cial to Christine Lang with valuable comments, Gerrianne for the exchange of ideas and
comments on the outline and Dejana for taking time to analyse the final draft version of
the text. And my academic supervisors Dr. Jens Schneider, Dr. Jeroen Doomernik and
Prof. Felipe Gomez Isa for their constructive criticism and guidance throughout the
1. INTRODUCTION
The past years have seen an increasing number of people around the world
forced to leave their home countries because of violence and political instability.
Be-cause of this, international community found itself obligated to integrate these people
into their societies. One of the major difficulties has been the successful integration of
refugees into host country’s labour market. There is no reason to think that this flow
will decrease, so integration of refugees into the host communities is an explicit
politi-cal aim of societies, but in practice it is difficult to achieve. UNHCR (United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees), in attempting to safeguard the rights and well-being
of refugees, has adopted the goal of finding effective and long-lasting solutions that will
allow refugees to rebuild their lives in dignity and peace. these solutions include
volun-tary repatriation, local integration, or resettlement to a third country in situations where
it is impossible for a person to go back home or remain in the host country. Included
under the notion of local integration is employment, which is a key issue for UNHCR
(UNHCR, 2001-2016).
Refugee and asylum seekers who settled down in Brazil have many rights in
common. They are a demographic with specific demands and highly qualified refugees
and asylum seekers, mainly due to their need to survive, are often employed in jobs and
industries for which they are unqualified or overqualified. In most situations, the access
to the labour market is difficult. The result is an increasing income gap between the
transition between their academic qualifications and the labour market in the host
coun-try does not lead directly to a qualified employment.
According to UNHCR (2013) the most important areas to examine in relation to
refugee integration are health, education, employment, housing and social integration.
With this in mind, this study specifically concerns the labour market and questions of
access for forced migrants in the Brazilian context.
Brazil has participated in the humanitarian assistance effort and it is considered
as an excellent potential host country by UNHCR. Brazil is a model in the region as
neighbouring countries look to Brazil when it comes to international relations in general
and protection of refugees in particular (Barreto, 2010). For instance, other regional
ac-tors use the Brazilian refugee law as an exemplar when adopting internal regulations,
inspired by the practice of refugee protection in Brazil (Jubilut, 2006). Although
refugees still struggle with integration challenges in Brazil, such as finding
employ-ment, becoming self-sufficient, obtaining decent housing, access to education and
for-mal labour market and more, it remains a key actor in Latin America.
Employment is critical for any understanding of migrant integration and
Valto-nen (2004) stresses that employment is a prime indicator of integration . When it comes 1
to refugees, it is especially important considering the vast majority of adults in the
mi-grant communities are of working age. Income from employment is key to a good
stan-dard of living and provides a material resource base to reinforce other types of societal
participation such as education, recreation, supporting other member of the community
via tax-paying or otherwise. Moreover, the author notes that employment is also a
Valtonen (2004, p.74) defines integration as “the ability to participate fully in economic, social, cultural
1
source of contact with groups outside the migrant community (out-groups) and provides
opportunities for networking and building social capital in the wider community.
Con-versely, she writes that unemployment circumscribes the participatory opportunities of
network formation and can have a correlation in predisposing people to social
exclu-sion. This exclusion applies in economic opportunities, such as earnings-based
insur-ance, pensions and medical entitlements, as well as in social activity, which can be
problematic for jobless people (Valtonen 2004).
Despite the importance of gainful employment for successful integration and
active participation in society, it is well know the importance of the recognition and
good utilisation of refugees’ cultural capital. In this sense, Bourdieu is an important
the-orist and his work is a tool to distinguish classes according to educational qualifications.
But in the context of refugees, when academic diplomas and certificates are no accepted
in the host country, the most common solution is to appeal to social network in order to
access a job opportunity. Refugees need to deal with many traumas and accessing the
labour market in the host country can contribute to this burden that they have to carry
while fleeing their country of origin. With this in mind, in the following section shall set
out the hypothesis and guiding research question of this study concerning the
employ-ment situation of refugees based in São Paulo, Brazil.
The relevance of studying this topic is to assess the development of refugee
pro-tection and integration in Brazil which has been missing from the broader international
literature on Refugee Law and an analysis of the robustness of Brazil’s system could
contribute to international perceptions of refugee protection (Jubliut, 2006). This study
certain phenomenon, identifying socially constructed meanings and the context in which
it occurs (Hennink, Hutter and Bailey, 2011). The theoretical framework used by this
study will be based not only on the conceptual sources and review of state of the art, but
also, importantly, on ethnographic data from the field. The main purpose of conducting
a field research is to be able to observe how different theoretical models correspond
with real or perceived experiences of refugees in Brazil. Furthermore, it is also useful to
compare different contexts. The topic of this study is investigated through an
ethno-graphic research and explorative study. The interviews were conducted on a small-scale
with refugees and asylum seekers living in São Paulo.
1.1. WORKING HYPOTHESIS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This study is concerned with the experiences of refugees accessing the labour
market, in hopes of discovering which factors help or hinder their incorporation into the
Brazilian labour market. My aim is to better understand how the cultural capital
ac-quired before reaching the host country influences outcomes during the incorporation of
refugees and asylum seekers into labour market.
Having this briefly explanation in mind, it is possible to formulate the following
research questions:
(1) How do refugees and asylum seekers access the labour market in São Paulo
and how they experience getting their first job?
(2) What kind of resources (or lack thereof) facilitate or impede their access to
According to my previous working experience in São Paulo, this study is based
on two main working hypothesis:
(1) The existing context does not facilitate the access of refugees and asylum
seekers to job positions related to their human capital, leading to a “de-skilling”, which
also may have a strong influence in their incorporation into the host society.
(2) Social network is an important factor in refugees’ and asylum seeker’s life,
because it can facilitate the access to labour market, while at the other hand the lack of
social capital in the host country can also be a hindrance to accessing any job
opportuni-ties.
1.2. ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY
The role of qualitative research is to collect, explain and interpret human
experi-ence, which requires uncovering personal, social and cultural meanings that underlie
people’s behaviour. With this in mind, this study used qualitative methodology, having
six chapters and it is structured as follows: firstly, in the Introduction, there is a briefly
overview of the main topic, in which the framework, research questions and working
hypotheses, as well as the relevance of this study either academically and as
recommen-dation for better practices are presented. In the second chapter, the main theoretical
con-cepts related to labour market incorporation will be examined, starting with the concept
of cultural capital by Pierre Bourdieu. This will be followed by a discussion about
vari-ous authors in the construction of skills determination and the idea of highly and low
skilled as well as how human capital affects the opportunities of an individual. In the
it differs with Bourdieu’s approach. Although there is debate about the meaning of
‘in-tegration’ as a concept, this paper uses the Ager and Strang’s approach (2010) on
refugee integration. The next section of this chapter is composed of a short explanation
two relevant quantitative studies, Navajot K. Lamba (2003) and her study in the
Cana-dian context followed by Val Colic-Peisker and Farida Tilbury (2006) in Australia. The
main findings of these studies will work as a parallel with the results of this research in
Brazil in order to discuss important aspects of refugees’ incorporation to the labour
market in the country. In order to build a theoretical framework both classical concepts
and the contemporary research are use.
In the third chapter, the aim is to contextualise the presence of refugees in
Brazil. Next there will be a brief overview of the role played by Brazil in South America
and Brazil’s presence on the topic of leadership in terms of refugees alongside a
differ-entiation of the terms between refugee and asylum seekers, taking into consideration
that this study is focused on both groups. This will be followed by a section about the
experience of migrants incorporation into the labour market, which considers migrants
in general because the population of refugees and asylum seekers is very small relative
to the entire migrant demographic in Brazil. Currently, there is not enough research
solely about the access of refugees to the labour market. A large part of the Brazilian
society does not recognise the distinction between economic and forced migrants, thus,
it is more viable to approach the Brazilian labour market considering migrants in
gener-al, since their experience is in some way similar to migrants as a whole. The end of this
support-ing refugees and asylum seekers in São Paulo. Their function in the Brazilian context
will be addressed.
The fourth chapter is dedicated to the methodology used for the qualitative
re-search in this thesis, which methods were used for analysing my findings during the
ethnographic research in relation to the proposed concepts as well as the advantages and
the limits of this study.
The ethnographic data gathered during the interviews in São Paulo will be
pre-sented and analysed in the fifth chapter. My aim during the interviews was to explore
the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers during their incorporation into the
labour market and the main barriers they face during this process, focusing in relate
their previous experience with their current life in Brazil. Therefore, the questions
dur-ing the interviews were about their qualifications and the works they had performed in
their countries of origin and how it was their search for a job opportunity in Brazil and
the main obstacles to achieve the desired job position. In this chapter, it will be
present-ed a brief description of the field research followpresent-ed by a comparison of the main
find-ings with the contemporary research, which was presented in the second chapter. The
purpose of this chapter is to show the refugees’ and asylum seekers’ opinions and
per-spectives of their opportunities within the labour market in Brazil and to reveal the
complex plurality of factors that were at play in the context of São Paulo. In this fifth
chapter, the empirical results gleaned from the interviews with refugees and asylum
seekers will be related with the body of concepts established throughout the earlier
chapters. This section will close by summarising the most striking results of the
along-side my final remarks about the topic and some ideas for further research related to the
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
For the purpose of the study, in this chapter it is analysed important an classical
concepts for the insertion of refugees into the labour market. Education and social
net-works are terms often related to good position within the labour market. These words
are part of a broad academic approach known as cultural and social capital, which are
fundamental concepts to understand how migrants and refugees are inserted into the
labour market in a foreign country. Analysing it is relevant in order to make
compar-isons with the empirical data and its applicability in the refugee’s case, also comparing
it in how the classification of their skills are applied in a different country.
First of all, it is necessary to clarify the position of refugees inside the
overarch-ing studies of migration, since many important and classical concepts used in this study
are related to migration in general, therefore it is taken into consideration that refugees
are considered forced migrants (altogether with asylum seekers and IDPs ). They expe2 3
-rience some similar problems accessing the labour marker as regular migrant with
prop-er documentation in Brazil. Thus, in the conceptual framework, the theories proposed
for migrants are very much similar with the experiences faced by refugees, since both
groups are foreigners trying to access the labour market. According to the UNHCR in
Brazil, even though refugees receive a special protection from the government and can
Due to the limit of the work, I would like to briefly contextualise forced migration, and according to the
2
International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) this is a general term that refers to the movements of refugees and internally displaced people (those displaced by conflicts) as well as peo-ple displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine, or development projects. Retrieved from: http://www.forcedmigration.org/about/whatisfm
internally displaced persons
therefore obtain documents, work and study, they exercise the same rights as any
for-eign legalised in Brazil. Therefore it is possible to relate the concepts and experiences of
refugees trying to enter the labour market with regular migrants and in these terms it
was possible to make a correlation between these groups in the conceptual framework.
2.1. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
In this section it is briefly approached relevant concepts related to what may lead
or prevent a successful labour market integration. For the first concept it is addressed
the work of Pierre Bourdieu, who discusses the different forms of capital, followed by
an analysis of the impact of this capital in the skills determinations and how it is seen
academically. Secondly it is reviewed the theories of Bourdieu and Coleman about
so-cial capital in order to create a framework for the research ending with a consideration
of Ager and Strang (2010) about refugee integration.
2.1.1. CULTURAL CAPITAL
Pierre Bourdieu sees capital as a distribution of power and resources and for him
there are three fundamental forms in which capital can present itself: firstly in economic
capital, which can be convertible into many different forms and property rights.
Second-ly in cultural capital, that can be convertible depending on certain conditions into
eco-nomic capital and may be institutionalised in the form of educational qualifications, and
thirdly in social capital, made up of social obligations, and it can be institutionalised in
further debate only in the terms of cultural capital and social, taking into consideration
that these capitals are the most relevant for the insertion of an individual in the labour
market.
Bourdieu references the notion of cultural capital in the course of research as a
theoretical hypothesis which made it possible to explain education inequalities from the
different social classes by relating academic success and the distribution of cultural
cap-ital between the classes and class fractions. He says that economists fail to take
system-atic account of the structure of the differential chances of profit which the various
mar-kets offer these agents or classes as a function of the volume and the composition of
their assets. Bourdieu (1986) recognises that the properties of cultural capital
presup-poses a process of embodiment, incorporation, which implies assimilation and it costs
time, a time which must be invested personally by the investor as a self-improvement.
This embodied capital, considered an external wealth, is converted into an integral part
of the person, that Bourdieu calls as habitus. This habitus is an open system of rules,
actions and perceptions acquired with time by individuals on their social experiences
(both in the material dimension, body, and symbolic, cultural, etc.) and it cannot be
transmitted instantaneously by gift or bequest neither purchase nor exchange. At the
other hand, the structure of the field represented by the unequal distribution of capital, is
the source of the specific effects of capital, for instance, the appropriation of profits and
the power to impose the laws of functioning of the field most favourable to capital and
its reproduction. It is really fundamental to understand the institutionalised state of
cul-tural capital of Bourdieu, since this is the one that presents academic qualification as a
certificate of cultural competence which confers on its holder a conventional, constant,
de-scribes the power of institutional recognition on the cultural capital possessed by a
per-son. He also argues about the conversion rates between cultural capital and economic
capital, by guaranteeing the monetary value of a given academic capital, establishing
the value of the holder of a given qualification, as Boudieu (1986) says,
“out of the continuum of infinitesimal differences between performances,
produces sharp, absolute, lasting differences, such as that which separates the
last successful candidate from the first unsuccessful one, and institutes and
essential difference between the officially recognised, guaranteed competence
and simple cultural capital, which is constantly required to prove itself” (p. 51).
Cultural capital is also argued by Bourdieu as only having its full efficacy when
the educational system is validated by the labour market, converting into a capital of
qualifications. Therefore transferring this backdrop to the migrants situation, Bourdieu
reinforces the difficulty of recognising cultural capital due economic constraints. He
also argues that educational qualifications never function perfectly as currency
(express-ing here the constraints of the direct transmission of capital), because they are never
en-tirely separable form their holders, in other words, their value rises in proportion to the
value of their bearer, especially in the least rigid areas of the social structure. Then he
concludes saying that the scope of the educational system tends to increase, and
togeth-er with this increase is the unification of the market in social qualification which gives
rights to occupy rare positions.
The Bourdieu’s capital theory describes the position of social groups within a
(Bourdieu, 1986). Within these structures, the habitus as well as the everyday actions
are structure or denied by the relative position of a group.
Furthermore, it is necessary to consider that cultural capital during migration is
highly tied to time and space. Nohl, Schittenhelm, Schmidtke, & Weiss (2006)
recog-nises the importance of considering the dynamics of time and space, which are relevant
variable to determine the utilisation of cultural capital in a new setting. They say that
“whatever was recognised before migration might no longer be accepted after migration
to a new country” (Nohl et al. 2006, p. 10).
Goldthorpe (2007) criticises the work of Bourdieu saying that his theory of
so-cial reproduction have serious inherent weakness and can be contradicted by empirical
evidence. Goldthorpe argues that the central interest in Bourdieu’s work is not just the
factual distribution of resources in different kinds within society but, he goes further to
the processes through which dominant classes effectively appropriate and monopolise
these resources and use them to their own benefit aiming to preserve their position of
dominance in regard to subordinate classes. According to Goldthorpe (2007):
“cultural capital is capital ‘embodied’ in individual dispositions and
competencies that give privileged access to such capital in its ‘objectified’ form
of cultural artefacts, and that is in turn institutionalised in criteria of cultural,
including academic, evaluation and thus ultimately in educational qualifications
that also provide returns to their holders” (p. 4).
However, it is necessary to consider that the return of this “embodied capital” is only
trans-fer to another culture. In this case, a common point in all cultures is the distinction in
the quality of cultural capital.
2.1.2. SKILLS DETERMINATION
Inside the overarching concept of cultural capital, for the sake of this study, it is
possible to isolate two categories: the high skills and the low skills. According to
Stein-berg (1990) the limited success of technical efforts shows how skills determinations are
socially constructed in highly political contexts, in which, whether employers or
em-ployees, exert considerably more power to maintain their definitions of skill. He also
argues that dominant groups remain privileged because they write the rules, which
en-able them to continue writing it according to their interests, resulting in changing it to
thwart challenges to their position. Moreover, he says that historians and economists
have noted that struggles over the meaning of skill are part of a larger contest between
employers and employees. He sees deskilling controversies as changes in skill
designa-tions with either a change in job content or a change in the typical incumbent. It is all
about social claims and political demands, and it is seen the necessity of building a new
social conscious where skills are broader recognised, but at the other hand there is the
threat of labour market equality against the mainstream class. Another important level to
mention are the economic factors, which are also at the centre of the model, while it is
also necessary to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the political and
cultur-al factors that surround economic processes.
Among the debate about deskilling, Steinberg (1990) presents the Braverman’s
hypothesis, which says that skill has been generally defined to encompass the degree of
come to be measured as the level of education and experience that an individual brings
to a job rather than as a characteristic of job requirements.
There is a big debate about what constitutes skilled work. Scholars tend to agree
more than disagree whether skilled has been treated as the outcome of labour market
and political struggles or as an objectively measurable set of mental and physical job
characteristics.
Steinberg (1990) introduces two different sociological positions about the concept
of skill: one is concerning theories of industrial capitalism and the other on stratification
and economic rewards. The theories of industrial capitalism says that the mechanisation
leads to deterioration of cast skills, what reflects in the worker’s loss of control over the
product of one’s labour and its personal and political consequences. At the other side,
some authors argue that on historical case studies there is a link between automation
and skill, and what constitutes skill is socially constructed in particular historical
cir-cumstances. According to them, skill categories either grow out of political struggle
be-tween employers and employees or are the result of unilateral choices by employers to
maximise control over production. At the other hand stratification theory also places
skill levels at the centre of an argument that justifies inequality in economic rewards by
linking skill levels of a position to its functional importance in the organisation.
Another position within the discussion of highly skills is of Khalid Koser and John
Salt (1997). They argue that the definition of this concept is not very clear in the
litera-ture, and usually official data refer to generic occupations as professional and manager.
Therefore they start defining highly skilled migration, and who is included, stemming
from the interplay of three broad conceptual bases, centred on the migrant, the state and
manual labour, and at the other hand there are concepts as brain waste, brain drain and
brain exchange, definitions that sometimes are not relevant in the case of refugees.
Sec-ondly, the description of the role of the receiving country is defining, admitting and then
benefiting from highly skilled immigrants, whose skills are perceived to be attractive on
national economic grounds. Thirdly, the way in which employers define skills or
exper-tise is related both to their specific requirements and their strategic organisation.
Anoth-er point that is necessary to take into considAnoth-eration is that most commentaries on highly
skilled assume that the holder is a graduate, and it is not in itself sufficient to be
regard-ed as highly skillregard-ed in labour market terms, since many graduates are not employregard-ed in
jobs requiring high-level expertise.
Conversely, many people whose work is deemed to be highly skilled are not
grad-uates. Then according to Koser and Salt (1997) skills can be acquired through
experi-ence rather than by education or training, and there is a strong case for distinguishing
between skills-based and qualifications-based procedures for recognising a migrant’s
professional expertise. But this statement can also be argued, since it is necessary to
take a country context into consideration, regarding its policies for migrant (with
for-eign qualifications) inclusion into the local labour market. And at the other hand there is
also the subjective definitions of skill levels adopted by employers. In general they
ar-gue that the assumption of defining highly skilled is made that migration is related
pri-marily to position in the labour market.
For some countries, qualification level is used to indicate who is highly skilled,
and in other categorisation is by the occupation recorded. Language is a further barrier
to comparability, since exact translations of technical specialisms may be difficult. In
the highly skilled is largely empirically based, and there is only a partial and
part-formed basis for theoretical development, analysis and prediction. Finally, Koser and
Salt (1997) argue that analyses in highly skilled migration are still theoretically and
methodologically limited, because it is not possible to establish a pattern of mobility.
In this context, the cultural capital theory is very important because it provides an
analytical approach for the reproduction of social inequality within highly
individualis-tic societies leading to a greater understanding of the differences in the refugee’s
posi-tions within the social structure and their habitual disposition. Then when cultural
capi-tal does not seem to be enough to the labour market mobility it is necessary to refer to
social capital.
2.1.3. SOCIAL CAPITAL
Social network plays a very important role in helping migrants accessing the
labour market and it is recognised academically as social capital. Then taking the same
work but with less elaboration, Bourdieu (1986) discusses the importance of social
capi-tal and its links to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalised
rela-tionships of mutual acquaintance and recognition, or as he says, “to membership in a
group” (Bourdieu, 1986, p.52). He seeks to understand how individuals entering into a
network of stable social relationships may benefit from its position or generate positive
externalities for its members. He describes how social capital in the possession of both
informal and formal networks of acquaintance and recognition can give returns via
Bourdieu (1986) highlights three aspects of social capital: the constituent
ele-ments; the benefits obtained by individuals by participating in groups or social networks
and forms of reproduction of this type of capital. Regarding the first element, Bourdieu
defines social capital as the aggregation of current or potential resources that have close
links with a durable institutionalised network of recognition relations (Bourdieu, 1986).
Relationships established between individuals belonging to a particular group does not
come only from the shared objective relations or from the same economic and social
space, but it merges, also in the material or symbolic exchange, whose establishment
and perpetuation assume recognition of this proximity. These are social networks (as
family, club, school), which give to the individual the feeling of belonging to a
particu-lar group.
The second element relates to the quantity and quality of the group resources.
According to Bourdieu (1986), the volume of capital of an individual depends on both
the extension of the network of relationships that it can effectively mobilise and the
volume of different forms of capital (economic, cultural or symbolic) that is unique
property of each one of the agents with whom the individual is connected.
He also stresses that the social capital tends to be transformed in economic
capi-tal or even in cultural capicapi-tal. The second aspect highlighted by him focuses on the
gains made by individuals because of their participation in the groups. It is this
partici-pation that allows them to take ownership of material and symbolic benefits (e.g.
occu-pational status) circulating among members of the network. Thirdly, directly related to
labor required to produce the networks of durable relationships that can provide
materi-al benefits and symbols circulating among members of the network.
From this perspective, it is important to highlight the relevance of social capital
for the various class fractions. The possibilities that open to people due their
participa-tion in certain groups or social networks, may increase the potential yield of their capital
and their school investments, in the form of symbolic or material benefits (e.g. salary
benefits).
The chances that the agents have to accumulate or reproduce social capital
de-pend on its position within the stratification system. Bourdieu (1986) uses the concept
of field to refer to the space where is manifested in power relations. That is to say that
the fields are structured from an unequal distribution of a social quantum (also called by
Bourdieu as social capital) which determines the position occupied by a specific agent.
Agents that have a capital quantum recognised by the group are able to earn the benefits
relating to dominant positions, while those who recently entered in a particular field, for
instance, having a small volume of capital, can only occupy the lower positions of the
field.
Social capital can also be productive, making some achievements possible,
while in its absence it would not be feasible. In this sense it is necessary to consider the
work of James Coleman, who has a relevant study on social capital. For him, social
cap-ital is defined by its function and it is not a single entity but a variety of different
enti-ties (Coleman, 1988). As physical capital and human capital, social capital is not fully
convertible into economic capital, but it can be particularly important for certain context
group) . This importance may be variable in nature and a particular form of social capi4
-tal might be valuable in facilitating certain actions or even useless and harmful, for
oth-ers (Coleman, 1988). According this author, social capital is not an attribute of
individu-als, but it is dependent in the social structure and in the relations between its actors. For
Coleman (1988),
“Social capital, however, comes about through changes in the relations among
persons that facilitate action. If physical capital is wholly tangible, being
embodied in observable material form, and human capital is less tangible, being
embodied in the skills and knowledge acquired by an individual, social capital is
less tangible yet, for it exists in the relations among persons.” (p.100)
Regarding this, Coleman (1988) specifies three aspects of the social structure: (1) the
obligations, expectations and trustworthiness of structures; (2) the information channels;
and (3) the norms and effective sanctions. These aspects influence the quality of
rela-tionships by forming social groups, facilitating especially the engagement of people in
the exchange of resources, mutual assistance and in demonstrating empathy for the
in-terests of the others.
In short, as Bourdieu emphasises the conflicts and competition between
individ-uals and groups by the different spaces of power, Coleman highlights the means by
which the different social groups work together and the relationships of reciprocity and
trust among its members, nevertheless for him, social capital can be created or
de-stroyed as by-products of other activities (Coleman, 1988). Cultural and social capital
More information about the distribution of information about people in the same or different group can
4
have its importance for an individual to access the labour market, and this access is also
related to the resettlement and integration of refugees in the new society, therefore in the
next section I seek to address one meaning of the word integration.
2.1.4. INTEGRATION AND BELONGING
Labour market incorporation is often associated with integration. In this sense a
key study about the integration of refugees in the host society is by Alastair Ager and
Alison Strang (2010). According to these authors, factors such as employment, hous5
-ing, education and health are noted as both ‘markers and means’ of integration.
Howev-er, this integration is hindered affecting the position occupied by refugees within the
host society. For Ager and Strang (2010) defining migrants (economic or forced) as
‘other’ immediately locates them as the ‘problem’, and such treatment reflects not only
an assumption of ‘otherness’, but also an implication of criminality. In this case, the
‘others’ are assumed to be untrustworthy until proven innocent. The distinction between
the 'others' and the citizens leads to a classification of who deserves the nation’s support
(citizens) and the underserved (people seeking asylum), which means that refugees have
lack of proper treatment even though they are eligible for support and have the right to
work (Ager and Strang , 2010). These authors also stress the relevance of social capital
for refugees living in a new society, also in terms of belonging, since establishing
‘bonding’ relationships emerges as a critical priority in the experiences of refugees, 6
Although the focus of my research is not on integration itself, these authors have important concepts, for
5
instance, settlement, discrimination and the position of refugees within the receiving society. These are key elements to take into consideration while analysing my data in their access to the labour market.
In this section they use Robert Putnam’s social capital formulation to distinguish between three crucial
6
forms of social connection: social ‘bonds’, ‘bridges’ and ‘links’ (Putnam 2000 as cited in Anger and Strang, 2010).
and in particular for many refugees it is of primary urgency to be united with close
fam-ily members. Anger and Strang (2010) suggest that social capital provides resources in
three key areas: information and material resources; emotional resources which enhance
confidence, and finally capacity building resources. Furthermore, clearly ‘the family’
whilst being a part of the wider ‘bonded’ group, has unique saliency in human
relation-ships and thus in integration (Anger and Strang, 2010). Therefore it is possible to
con-clude that for these authors integration is strongly related to a good possession of social
capital and and proper implementing of cultural capital usage in order to build the
re-sources in a new country.
2.2. STATE OF THE ART
An analysis of contemporary studies about the experience of refugees in the
labour market is important in order to validate this study. Although relevant researches
in this topic were made through a quantitate analysis and in different contexts, there are
still many points to consider and examine in other to make compare with the
ethno-graphic data collected for this qualitative research.
2.2.1. LAMBA AND REFUGEES IN CANADA
Navajot K. Lamba has a key quantitative work about the applicability of human
capital in employing refugees in Canada. In her text, she uses Giddens’ structuration
theory as an interpretive framework to describe how refugee agency is constrained and
(Lamba, 2003). She has analysed the experience of refugees trying to enter the labour
market in Canada, and in that context they were facing limited opportunities to
repro-duce a lifestyle similar to or better than one that was experienced in their former
coun-try. In order to make her analysis, Lamba took into account the value of the former
em-ployment and education of refugees, current English-language proficiency, and the
number of months of training or education received upon arrival in Canada (or potential
human capital). She identifies key factors that are relevant to employment status, career 7
development and income level, that are for instance, knowledge of the English and
French languages, recognition of foreign credentials, level and type of education, work
experience, length of residence in the receiving society, age and sex. In addition to work
experience, being young and male also facilitates finding a first job (Piche et al., 1997
as as cited in Lamba, 2003). But at the other hand refugees may suffer various forms of
systemic discrimination that might deny their access to professional-level occupations.
In order to maintain high standards, professional associations (for example, in medicine)
and trade unions function as labour market shelters (Krahn and Lowe, 1998 as cited in
Lamba, 2003) by applying stringent standards in the adjudication of foreign credentials.
In addition, there is the increasing institutionalisation of downward mobility exercised
by educational institutions, as Lamba (2003) notes,
“in applying human capital theory to the case of refugees, we should expect that
a higher advanced education, a high-status occupation in one’s former home,
fewer months of English-language training and additional training obtained in
Canada should result in a higher quality of employment. However, when
In this case human capital should not be confused with cultural or social capital. In this study, Lamba
7
uses the concept of human capital developed by Coleman (1988): as the skills and knowledge that an in-dividual acquires and uses for futures returns (Lamba, 2003).
considered collectively, these four human capital variables predict a very small
proportion of the total variance in refugees’ quality of employment (R2= .
045). These findings suggest that refugees’ performance in the labour market is
largely not determined by their prior education or work experience, or by
additional human capital acquired in Canada” (p. 55).
She goes further, observing that the time invested by refugees in obtaining additional
training may reflect a need to improve upon current skills, and hence act as a barrier to
achieving a higher quality of employment. In many circumstances, as refugees invest
time in training, the process of accessing higher-status employment opportunities is
postponed and worthy opportunities may be missed.
In her article, Lamba makes some final points that are also relevant for this
study. Firstly, a refugee’s former education and employment have little, if any, impact in
securing meaningful and stable employment in Canada. And this impact can be even
more evident for refugees considered ‘highly-skilled’ in their former country. The
for-mer education and employment of these refugees is virtually worthless, it may qualify
them to pursue additional education in Canada, but Lamba’s results suggest that it does
not guarantee their entrance into their chosen fields. Secondly, there are some structural
barriers, such as discrimination and time invested in English-language and other
train-ing, that may not lead to positive in employment outcomes. Finally, Lamba concludes
that the refugees' own personal resources or human capital appear to be either lacking or
insufficient due to structural barriers as they struggle to gain employment comparable to
2.2.2. COLIC-PEISKER AND TILBURY AND REFUGEES IN AUSTRALIA
Another critical quantitative work about the insertion of refugees into the labour
market is from Val Colic-Peisker and Farida Tilbury. Their research is focused on
Aus-tralia, where refugees have little choice but to accept low-status jobs as a way out of
marginalisation created by unemployment and welfare dependency. Their research is
based on the concept of the segmented labour market . This theory is used to explain 8
that the short supply of workers mainly pertains to the low-status segment of the job
market, which they call the ‘secondary labour market’ . Immigrants have filled this
segment for more than a century, mainly in the Western countries, and the areas that are
more needed are in low-skilled service occupations, such as retail, domestic help, care
of the aged, catering and cleaning. They note that in Australia unauthorised intakes of
immigrants are much lower compared to the United States for geographical reasons.
Colic-Peisker and Tilbury write that because of this lower number, humanitarian
en-trants to Australia have been directed to the bottom jobs ever since the first large
refugee intake reached the continent in the late 1940s (Jupp 2002 as cited in
Colic-Peisker and Tilbury, 2006). Therefore, the authors use this theory to explain the access
of refugees to the Australian labour market looking at the concentration of refugees in
certain industries in an ethnically segmented labour market. However, it does not fit into
the idea of an ethnic niche where an immigrant group, through economic agency,
entre-preneurship and on the basis of specific skills, establishes itself within the economy of
the host society.
Colic-Peisker and Tilbury define Labour market segmentation theory as the “social and institutional
8
forces that reduce opportunities for certain social groups, for example women and immigrants, and rele-gate them to the ‘second division’ of the labour market.” (Flatau and Lewis 1991; Doerington and Piore 1972; Reich 1984; Dickens and Lang 1988 as cited in Colic-Peisker and Tilbury, 2006, p.206). And for them, labour market segmentation has been seen as a basis of social disadvantage of immigrant groups and the formation of ethnic minorities.
They found that only those who were relatively well-off and educated have the
networks required to access the relevant information and successfully negotiate the
complex immigration procedures of refugee-receiving countries. Their statistical
analy-sis demonstrates that refugees’ employment status (being unemployed, employed
part-time, or employed full-time) improved over part-time, but employment level (reaching a job
commensurate with one’s qualifications or pre-migration work experience) did not
im-prove. It is common for most refugees to occupy these in low-skill positions within the
labour market. Furthermore, Colic-Peisker and Tilbury write that after several years in a
low-skilled job, professional skills are likely to degenerate, a ‘gap’ in the curriculum
vitae appears, and the likelihood of ever acquiring a job at the previous skill level
de-creases. In addition, being stuck in a low-skilled job means that communicating and
networking with peers becomes impossible. These activities are crucial for keeping
skills up-to-date and learning about opportunities for employment in the pre-migration
field (Colic-Peisker and Tilbury, 2006). The outcome is that the longer a refugee is in
the host country, the harder it is form him/her to achieve the position had before
migrat-ing. Finally, describing the impact that social capital has for the settlement of refugees,
Colic-Peisker and Tilbury (2006) write that:
“the nearly-exclusive reliance on the ethnic community may prevent the creation
of non-ethnic ‘bridging’ social networks (Korac 2005) or what Granovetter
(1974) called ‘weak ties’ in the mainstream community, which are instrumental
In both empirical studies, it is possible to perceive that cultural and social capital
may interfere in someway in the access of refugees to the labour market, although there
are also other factors that influence this phenomenon. Having presented the main
theo-retical framework, which gave a brief idea of the main concepts (cultural capital, highly
and low skilled, social capital) and how they are presented in the current research about
the topic, the challenge of the following chapters is applying them as analytical tools to
better grasp their importance in the experience of refugees entering the labour market in
3. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXTUALISATION
This chapter aims to accomplish a crucial goal in hopes of clarifying the
posi-tion of Brazil in the overall refugee context as well as situating the local distincposi-tion of
refugee and asylum seeker in light of the Brazilian legislation. The objective in the
background chapter is not to connect the concepts presented in the theoretical chapter
but is contextualising Brazil within the broader topic of refuge. Therefore, it is made a
short overview about the insertion of migrants and refugees into the labour market, and
a presentation of the role of social organisation within this scenario. This background
and contextualisation intend to form a solid base along with the concepts in order to
proceed to an appropriate introduction of the ethnographic data.
3.1. BRAZIL AND REFUGEES
Brazil is the fifth largest country in terms of size and population (192 million)
and is ranked among the top 10 economies in the world (UN-HABITAT, 2010). It has
consolidated its role as Latin America’s most influential and leading economic power
over the last decade. Moreover, Brazil is also inserted in the waves of immigration
flows, starting with the colonisation process by Portugal, which eventually makes Brazil
a recipient of immigrants, contributing to the formation of the country. According to
Cavalcanti, Oliveira and Tonhati (2015), it has been observed an international migration
to Brazil until the second half of the twentieth century. However, since the eighties there
has been a reversal in this process and a considerable part of its population began to see
economic crisis has contributed to a shifting of the axis of South American migration, in
turn increasing the complexity of the situation, especially in Brazil. In addition, the
eco-nomic and social development of the country and its geopolitical repositioning in recent
years has made migration much more diverse. Currently, Brazil combines two migration
scenarios. Firstly, there is still emigration, while the country began to receive new and
diversified immigration flows, secondly is the migratory return projects by immigrants,
influenced mainly by the economic crisis (Cavalcanti et al., 2015). These multiple
sce-narios are important in clarifying how the Brazilian population sees migrants and
refugees in their insertion within the society.
In terms of refugee protection, Brazil has played an important role regionally. In
1997, the government approved Law 9.474/97, also known as the Refugee Act, aiming
to facilitate the official measures for the admissibility and integration of refugees in the
national territory through a set of articulated legal procedures. This law aimed to
broad-en the definition of refugee, which was established in the Cartagbroad-ena Declaration of 1984
and considered the “widespread violations of human rights” as a cause of recognition of
refugee status, expanding the definition of the 1951 Refugee Convention , which states 9
that the term “refugee” shall apply to those whom:
“owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion,
nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is
outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is
unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a
nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a
In 28th of June, 1951 the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees took place in Geneva, which
9
aimed to establish who were the people who could be called "refugees" and the standards that the signato-ry countries should follow to host these people.
result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to
it” (Geneva Convention, Article 1, section B1 (a)).
Furthermore, Law 9.474/97 was responsible for the creation of the Brazilian National
Committee for Refugees (Comitê Nacional para Refugiados – CONARE), an
inter-min-isterial body that coordinates and promotes refugee-related policies in the country
(Nogueira and Marques, 2008). The main particularity of CONARE is its structure as a
tripartite entity, in which the implementation of asylum policy is carried out in a
part-nership between government representatives, civil society – through non-governmental
organisations (NGO) involved specifically with the issue – and the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Therefore, the Brazilian government, civil
soci-ety and international organisations have been working together in this cause, which is a
positive aspect of refugee protection and integration in Brazil. The country has been a
leader in the protection of refugees. It was the first country in the Southern Cone to 10
ratify the 1951 Convention in 1960 and it was also one of the first members’ countries
of the UNHCR Executive Committee, which is responsible for approving the annual
programs and budgets of the Agency. It is positive to note that the international
solidari-ty and responsibilisolidari-ty sharing is evident in refugee protection in Brazil, which sharply
with the restrictive trends seen in many other countries (Nogueira and Marques, 2008).
Although the scenario seems positive, upon arriving in Brazil, refugees and
asy-lum seekers face a variety of problems ranging from simple things to more complex
ones. For instance, bureaucracy and the difficulty with the language, lack of
The Southern Cone is a geographical region composed by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and
10
ment, poor health services and lack of housing are all problems flagged in the work of
Lucia Bógus and Viviane Rodrigues (2011). Brazil currently shelters the largest number
of refugees in South America with more than 8000 living within the borders. The
major-ity are from Syria (BAND, 2016, March 05) . Refugees who arrive in Brazil are grant11
-ed special protections and can obtain documents, work, study and exercise the same
rights as any foreign citizen legalised in Brazil. The protection network established in
Brazil is formed by more than 30 organisations, which are responsible for implementing
integration and assist over 90% of the refugees.
A study from Aydos, Baeninger and Dominguez (2008) mapped the refugees’
conditions of life in Brazil, and some of their findings are of great importance for
un-derstanding the Brazilian context, for instance, the main entrance cities in Brazil are:
Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo/Guarulhos and Santos, and also smaller border cities. Most of
refugees have entered the country via legal channels, but a small number have entered
illegally. The majority of refugees have arrived alone. Half of refugees who are in Brazil
have traveled by using their own resources, but the other half depended on family and
friends for loans. When they first arrived in Brazil the options for dwellings are hotel,
with friends or relatives, or buying or renting a house. Some of them may end up living
on the street or in house of worship. A considerable part of this flow had some
acquain-tances in Brazil, although almost half of the sample interviewed by Aydos et al (2008)
did not know anyone in Brazil before arriving. Because of the lack of social network,
refugees tend to remain in the neighbourhoods where they find people of the same
na-tionality, leading to a strict network (Aydos et al., 2008).
Unfortunately there is no official data available, the number of refugees was obtained through news
11
report, retrieved from: http://noticias.band.uol.com.br/jornaldaband/videos/2016/03/05/15789309-pesquisa-revela-que-brasil-tem-mais-de-8-mil-refugiados.html
3.1.1. BRAZILIAN AUTHORS
There are some Brazilian authors who have done important studies on the topic
of refuge in Brazil and Latin America, among them are Liliana Lyra Jubilut and José H
Fischel de Andrade, and this section will give a short summary of their work on the
con-text of refugees in Brazil.
For Andrade (1998), the refugee law has developed in a very dynamic way, but
there is still a lack of coordination and gaps in the international community and
domes-tic levels. He discusses the need for harmonization of norms and procedures in a variety
of legal fields, particularly law specifically pertaining to refugees. He considers that the
1984 Cartagena Declaration was a landmark of this move towards harmonization. The
concept of harmonization for Andrade (1998),
“ought to be understood as a comprehensive concerted effort, which
encompasses the diplomatic, political and legal will of all states in a specific
region. Regional harmonization [sic] must encompass, principally, the
legislation that defines the term ‘refugee’, the interpretation of this concept, and
the procedure for determining refugee status” (p. 395).
He also stresses the importance of regional organisations, writing that they are generally
in a better position to play an active role in society in a peaceful way, mainly because
their equitable geographical representation, which facilitates the achievement of
con-sensus. In this way, the author suggests that the Latin American countries should work
Andrade recognises the situation of Brazil, with its vast territory and ethnically
diverse population. Brazil, despite its economic difficulties, is able to absorb and offer
opportunities for those who wish to stay. A society which is a mixture of many
national-ities, for instance, indigenous Indians, Africans, Italians, Germans, among others, is
open and tolerant towards the arrival of immigrants and refugees. Substantial sections of
the political elite were themselves exiled and, because of this, are sympathetic to the
need for receiving and protecting those fleeing persecution. He also writes that Brazilian
authorities are focused on ensuring that refugees are well received by the local
commu-nities and are successfully integrated. Moreover, Brazil, once a temporary haven for
asylum seekers, has become refugee receiving country and is today a resettlement
op-tion in its own right (Andrade and Marcolini, 2002).
Lilliana L. Jubilut is another important and prolific Brazilian author, with many
experiences working with refugees in Brazil. According to her, the development of
refugee protection in Brazil has been missing from the broader international literature
on Refugee Law and an analysis of the robustness of Brazil’s system could contribute to
international perceptions of refugee protection. She thinks that Brazil can be understood
as a model in South America regarding refugee protection in comparison to the logic
that has been operating in the contemporary world. For Jubilut, Brazil should be viewed
as a leader in this area because of the country’s inclusion of traditional and new actors
in the decision-making process concerning refugee status determination , as well as in 12
the local integration of refugees and in the established resettlement programme (Jubilut,
2006).
For more information about refugee status determination in Brazil see Jubilut and Apolinario (2008)
Jubilut also highlights that civil society has led the way in supporting the
gration of refugees in Brazil, providing up to 60% of the total budget for refugee
inte-gration in the country through direct work or partnership. She also stresses the necessity
of adopting public policies that will benefit the whole refugee population living in
Brazil, mainly in basic services as health, education, employment and housing, in order
to ensure full protection of refugees, guaranteeing both their civil and political rights
and their economic and social rights (Jubilut, 2010).
This was a brief approach from only two authors about the topic of refuge in
Brazil and the relevance of considering researches about Brazil as a receiving country,
as well as the its position related to refugee legislation. In the next section there will be
discussed the distinction about the terms refugees and asylum seekers in the light of
Brazilian legislation.
3.2. REFUGEES VERSUS ASYLUM SEEKERS
The distinction between asylum seekers and refugees is widely discussed both
academically and politically. This ongoing discussion is why it is important to clarify
how this distinction in Brazil can have an influence in this research and also how the
Brazilian legislation sees both groups. These terms must be unpacked in order to gain a
fuller understanding of their differences in the Brazilian context. First of all, the terms
‘asylum’ and ‘refuge’ are commonly used interchangeably in most countries. The
population are referred to as either asylum or refugee policies . Therefore, asylum 13
seeker is an individual who claims to be a refugee, but who have not yet had their
appli-cation evaluated . In these terms, Brazil has made an international commitment to grant 14
the same protection to refugees as that are granted to any other Brazilian citizen seeking
integration and support. The formal asylum request temporarily regularises the asylum
seeker’s stay in the country, securing their right to work and access to public services
such as health and education free of charge.
Asylum seekers have many rights in Brazil and according to the Manual of
rights and duties of asylum seekers and refugees in Brazil they are able:
“to have access to the legal procedures for requesting asylum, free of charge and
with no need for a lawyer; not to be returned to their country of nationality or to
where they may suffer human rights violations; not to be discriminated against
by governmental authorities or by society; not to be punished for irregular entry
into the country; receive all documentation envisaged in the above legislation:
temporary asylum seeker protocol, tax number (CPF) and work permit (Carteira
de Trabalho); to have the same rights and access to public policies and services
available to foreigners living in a regular situation in the country, amongst them:
basic civil rights (such as freedom of thought and movement and the right not to
Although it is not in the scope of this research, it is important to mention that in the specific context of
13
Latin America, it was developed different operational and juridical meanings for asylum (locally called asilo). Asilo is a legal condition which has been established in several regional instruments and it refers to the protection of persecuted individuals (especially those who have some political link) and it holds a series of specific definitional characteristics that distinguish it from the refugee concept currently applied by the 1951 Convention and other instruments on the matter (Andrade, 1998).
Highlighting that national asylum systems are there to determine which applicants for asylum actually
14
qualify for international protection. The ones found who are considered refugees through the appropriate procedures, and do not need any other form of international protection may be sent back to their coun-tries of origin. Retrieved from UNHCR in Brazil: http://www.acnur.org/t3/portugues/quem-ajudamos/ solicitantes-da-condicao-de-refugiado/ (ACNUR, 2001-2016).
