![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/RPF-imigracao-2025-09-info1-ING-DESK.png\")
\n <\/picture>But data from the International Migration Observatory (OBMigra)\u2014a collaboration between the University of Bras\u00edlia (UnB) and Brazil\u2019s Ministry of Justice and Public Security\u2014suggest even higher figures. Between 2010 and 2022, OBMigra recorded 957,000 new immigrant registrations and 327,000 asylum applications, not including naturalized residents. \u201cIf you combine the new registrations of immigrants and asylum seekers with the 600,000 immigrants counted in Brazil\u2019s 2010 Census, as many as 2 million immigrants may now be living in the country,\u201d estimates statistician Ant\u00f4nio Tadeu Ribeiro de Oliveira, who heads OBMigra.<\/p>\n
Up until 2010, Europeans made up the majority of Brazil\u2019s immigrant population. Since then, however, migration has been led by Latin Americans (see chart on page 16<\/em>). Census data show that of the roughly 1 million foreign-born residents currently in Brazil, 464,000 are from neighboring Latin American countries. Venezuelans represent the largest group at 271,000 people. Most of this influx has entered through the northern state of Roraima, followed by Amazonas. Beginning in 2016, both states saw a surge in arrivals as Venezuela plunged into a humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n<\/div> In response, Brazil\u2019s federal government launched Opera\u00e7\u00e3o Acolhida<\/em> (\u201cOperation Welcome\u201d), a humanitarian program that provides documentation, vaccinations, and temporary housing to Venezuelan migrants. According to William Laureano da Rosa of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the program has already aided more than 800,000 Venezuelans. Roughly half have chosen to remain in Brazil. Of those, the majority\u2014266,000 people\u2014have been formally recognized as refugees, according to the 10th<\/sup> edition of Ref\u00fagio em n\u00fameros<\/em> (Refugees by the numbers), a 2025 report published by Brazil\u2019s National Committee for Refugees (CONARE) in collaboration with OBMigra.<\/p>\n The report shows that between 2015 and 2024, Brazil received 454,000 applications for refugee status, of which about 150,900 were approved. Refugee status is granted to individuals forced to flee their home countries because of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion\u2014as well as those escaping severe and widespread human rights violations. After Venezuelans, the largest refugee groups in Brazil are Cubans (52,000), Haitians (37,000), and Angolans (18,000). These groups form the biggest contingent in Brazil\u2019s refugee population, which now spans 175 nationalities.<\/p>\n According to both Rosa and Baeninger, the current migration wave can be traced back to 2010, when Haitians began arriving in Brazil after the earthquake that killed an estimated 300,000 people (see<\/em> Pesquisa FAPESP issue n\u00b0 265<\/em><\/a>). Brazil\u2019s federal government created a \u201chumanitarian visa\u201d giving Haitians a legal pathway to stay in the country (see glossary<\/em>).<\/p>\n<\/div> Baeninger explains that this marked a shift in Brazil\u2019s stance within the geopolitics of international migration\u2014a trend that grew stronger in the years that followed. In 2013, Brazil became one of the few countries worldwide to grant refugee status to Syrians escaping their nation\u2019s civil war. More recently, beginning in 2021, the government extended humanitarian visas to some 15,000 Afghan migrants. \u201cMany Afghans who arrived through S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Guarulhos International Airport ended up staying there for weeks while waiting for housing,\u201d recalls Rosa. \u201cIn some cases, they even chose to stay at the airport until they could arrange a new route\u2014most often with the United States as their intended final destination,\u201d he adds. Brazil has also begun receiving immigrants from countries with little to no historical presence in the country, including Nepal, Vietnam, and India.<\/p>\n When foreign nationals arrive in Brazil without a visa, they are detained at the airport as \u201cinadmissible immigrants.\u201d At that stage, they may submit a refugee application. Once the form is processed by Brazil\u2019s Federal Police, they are granted provisional entry. The application is forwarded to CONARE, which evaluates each case and decides whether to approve or deny refugee status.<\/p>\n Moacyr Lopes Junior \/ Folhapress <\/span>Haitian immigrants in S\u00e3o Paulo boarding a van to the Ministry of Labor to get their paperwork processed (2014)Moacyr Lopes Junior \/ Folhapress <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Economist and demographer Lu\u00eds Felipe Aires Magalh\u00e3es, deputy director of the S\u00e3o Paulo Migration Observatory at NEPO-UNICAMP, explains that many migrants from the Global South come to Brazil specifically to obtain a residence visa or refugee status. When this is secured, they can then prepare for the next leg of their migration journey. \u201cAfter that, many move on\u2014often relying on smuggling networks to continue overland routes toward the United States or Canada,\u201d says Magalh\u00e3es.<\/p>\n Magalh\u00e3es coauthored a chapter titled \u201cHoy me voy pa\u2019l norte<\/em>: \u2018Crise migrat\u00f3ria\u2019 nas Am\u00e9ricas e o Brasil como espa\u00e7o de tr\u00e2nsito de migrantes internacionais\u201d (Hoy me voy pa\u2019l norte<\/em>: Latin America and Brazil as staging posts for international migrants) in the book Migra\u00e7\u00e3o e ref\u00fagio: Temas emergentes no Brasil<\/em> (Migration and refugees: Emerging issues in Brazil), published by NEPO-UNICAMP last year. The study combined fieldwork in Brazil and Mexico with a desktop review of international migration data. Among those interviewed was a nun from the Catholic Migrant Pastoral Service, who has worked in the border states of Acre, Amazonas, and Roraima. She recounted helping many Haitians in the region who hoped to move on to the United States or Canada to join relatives.<\/p>\n Rovena Rosa\u2009\/\u2009Ag\u00eancia Brasil | Kevin Carter\u2009\/\u2009Getty Images <\/span>Afghan refugees camping at Guarulhos International Airport in 2023 while awaiting shelter. A sign posted on the wall along the US\u2013Mexico border (right<\/em>)Rovena Rosa\u2009\/\u2009Ag\u00eancia Brasil | Kevin Carter\u2009\/\u2009Getty Images <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Brazilian sociologist Julia Scavitti, who contributed to the research as part of her PhD at the Autonomous University of San Luis Potos\u00ed in Mexico (completed in 2024), conducted ethnographic fieldwork in migrant shelters and in the streets of Tapachula. Sitting on Mexico\u2019s southern border with Guatemala, Tapachula is a major transit hub for migrants\u2014especially those heading north toward the United States. With funding from Mexico\u2019s National Council of Science and Technology, Scavitti documented the experiences of many migrants who had begun their journeys in Brazil but were now in Mexico, preparing to continue on to the United States. The study\u2014coauthored with geographer Caio da Silveira Fernandes of the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP)\u2014notes that it was common to hear foreigners speaking Portuguese with varied accents, such as when parents communicated with their children.<\/p>\n One factor driving the rising number of immigrants in Brazil is economic opportunity. As OBMigra\u2019s Oliveira notes, Brazil offers stronger job and income prospects compared to many other countries in the Global South. Supportive legislation also plays an important role. Brazil\u2019s Refugee Statute (Law No. 9,474 of 1997) and its Migration Law (Law No. 13,445 of 2017) are grounded in human rights principles, Oliveira explains.<\/p>\n Under current law, foreign nationals are allowed to stay in Brazil while they process their paperwork, which can take up to two years. \u201cAsylum seekers in Brazil receive a provisional document that lets them move freely throughout the country, take formal jobs, access the public health system (SUS), and enroll their children in school,\u201d explains political scientist Julia Bertino Moreira, who heads the Research Group on Transnational and Other Migrations in the Twenty-First Century at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC) in S\u00e3o Bernardo do Campo. She contrasts this with practices in parts of Europe\u2014such as Greece and Spain\u2014where asylum seekers are often held in detention centers until a decision is made on their applications.<\/p>\n L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves\u2009\/\u2009Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span>Immigrants from Guyana and the Democratic Republic of Congo teaching a course at SESCL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves\u2009\/\u2009Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Since 2016, University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP) anthropologist Rose Satiko Gitirana Hikiji has been documenting the vibrant cultural and musical scene shaped by African immigrants in S\u00e3o Paulo. Her research as part of the FAPESP-funded thematic project, Local Musicking: New Pathways for Ethnomusicology, included interviews with artists from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Togo, and Angola. The project has produced four documentaries codirected with anthropologist Jasper Chalcraft of the University of Sussex in the UK. One of these films, S\u00e3o Palco \u2013 Cidade Afropolitana<\/em>, won Best Feature at the 2025 Ecofalante Film Festival.<\/p>\n Hikiji also interviewed a troupe of Togolese musicians and dancers who left an international tour in Paraguay to resettle in S\u00e3o Paulo, seeking better living conditions. According to Hikiji, since 2015 they had been performing at festivals celebrating African cultural traditions\u2014music, dance, and cuisine\u2014hosted at venues across S\u00e3o Paulo, including Retail Social Service (SESC) centers and \u201cCultural Factories.\u201d<\/p>\n Sociologist Willians de Jesus dos Santos, whose doctoral research explored the contemporary African music scene in S\u00e3o Paulo, highlights events such as the 2018 Gringa Music festival\u2014organized by Congolese musician Yannick Delass at Al Janiah, a Palestinian-founded bar in the Bela Vista district\u2014and Ref\u00fagios Musicais, a program hosted at SESC Belenzinho in the city\u2019s east side. In 2024, Santos completed his doctoral dissertation at UNICAMP, supported by a grant from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).<\/p>\n L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves\u2009\/\u2009Pesquisa FAPESP\u2002<\/span>Congolese musician Yannick Delass at his home in S\u00e3o PauloL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves\u2009\/\u2009Pesquisa FAPESP\u2002<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n He notes that African artists in S\u00e3o Paulo are typically confined to niche markets. Most are invited to perform only in Black-related events\u2014such as festivals during Black Awareness Month or venues dedicated to African music. And often, the opportunity for exposure replaces actual payment. \u201cThese musicians don\u2019t want to be boxed into the label of \u2018African artist,\u2019 as that restricts their access to mainstream events and limits their potential earnings,\u201d Santos explains. Many of the artists Santos interviewed hold university degrees, yet because they cannot make a living solely from music, they are often compelled to take low-skill jobs. \u201cWhat\u2019s more, several told me that Brazil was the first place where they personally experienced racism,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n Researchers interviewed for this article agree that Brazilian legislation does in theory offer legal security and protection for vulnerable migrants, but note there is a persistent gap between the laws on paper and their implementation in practice. \u201cWhat we lack is a cohesive national policy to coordinate efforts across the federal, state, and municipal levels. Without it, immigrants will struggle to settle in Brazil,\u201d argues Lu\u00eds Renato Vedovato, a legal scholar at UNICAMP who in May completed a FAPESP-funded study on how multidimensional poverty\u2014defined as deprivations beyond income alone\u2014affects immigrants.<\/p>\n That gap may soon narrow with the creation of the National Policy on Migration, Refuge, and Statelessness, recently established by Brazil\u2019s Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP). According to Luana Medeiros, director of the ministry\u2019s Migration Department, a federal decree is already being drafted to put the policy into effect. \u201cThe new framework is designed to improve coordination among federal, state, and municipal agencies while also expanding civil society\u2019s role in shaping and scrutinizing programs for immigrants,\u201d Medeiros concludes.<\/p>\n The story above was published with the title “Going South<\/strong>” in issue 355 of September\/2025.[\/bibliografia]<\/p>\n Projects<\/strong> Books<\/strong>![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/RPF-imigracao-2025-09-info2-ING-DESK.png\")
\n <\/picture>Alexandre Affonso\/Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/div>![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RPF-imigracao-2025-09-info4-ING-DESK.png\")
\n <\/picture>Alexandre Affonso\u2009\/\u2009Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/RPF-imigracao-haitianos-2025-09-1140.jpg\")
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\n1.<\/strong> The concept of human dignity in relation to socially perceived needs: Vulnerabilities and minority rights (n\u00b0 22\/15017-5<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Regular Research Grant; Principal Investigator<\/strong> Luis Renato Vedovato (UNICAMP); Investment<\/strong> R$55,048.50.
\n2.<\/strong> Local music: New paths for ethnomusicology (n\u00b0 16\/05318-7<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Thematic Project; Principal Investigator<\/strong> Suzel Ana Reily (UNICAMP); Investment<\/strong> R$4,516,674.87.<\/p>\n
\nBAENINGER, R. et al.<\/em> (eds.). Atlas tem\u00e1tico: Observat\u00f3rio da emigra\u00e7\u00e3o brasileira \u2013 Observat\u00f3rio das migra\u00e7\u00f5es dos pa\u00edses de l\u00edngua portuguesa \u2012 Migra\u00e7\u00f5es internacionais<\/strong><\/a>. Vol. 3. Campinas: N\u00facleo de Estudos de Popula\u00e7\u00e3o Elza Berqu\u00f3 da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Nepo-Unicamp). 2025.
\nMOREIRA, J. B. & MENEZES, M. A. (eds.). Migra\u00e7\u00f5es transnacionais de refugiados e outras categorias de migrantes: Conceitos e experi\u00eancias<\/strong>. Curitiba: Editora Appris. In press.
\nMAGALH\u00c3ES, L. F. A. et al.<\/em> (eds). Migra\u00e7\u00f5es e ref\u00fagio: Temas emergentes no Brasil<\/strong><\/a>. Campinas: N\u00facleo de Estudos de Popula\u00e7\u00e3o Elza Berqu\u00f3 da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Nepo-Unicamp). 2024.<\/p>\n