People migrate for complex reasons. The ever hardening border regime practiced by Europe, North America and Australia has forced many migrants to search elsewhere for safety. Brazil is one of those places. Many people from Sub-Saharan Africa have turned to Brazil when all other doors were closed, or when visa processes for other countries promised to keep them locked in places of danger until it was too late. As an internationally well-connected and territorially extensive country, Brazil also attracts those looking for new routes to the Global North.
In this series of short, anonymous extracts, collected and compiled by the migrant solidarity organisation Missão Paz in São Paolo, Brazil, Congolese migrants share their experiences in the country at each step of their migratory journeys. Brazil has, for them, been a safe haven, a place of continued suffering, and everything in-between.
Brazil was supposed to be a springboard
“There wasn’t a war per se, but ‘ethnic conflict’. My family is part of an ethnic group that was being attacked, so we had to flee. Some of us went to the US, others to France. I couldn't get a visa to go with them. I was told that it was easier to get a visa to Brazil, and from there it would be easier to go to the US or Europe. But when I arrived here, I saw that it was not that easy. So I stayed.”
It’s better than where I was
“My family opposed the government. My uncles, my father, my mother – many threats to them came straight to my house. I come from a humble family and we had a good life, but because of political persecution I left my country when I was very young. Before coming here, I was in Portugal, Angola, and Mozambique. I practiced a lot of Portuguese in Mozambique, and because my work involved selling fabrics I used to travel a lot to fabric fairs. I was living in Venezuela when I came here for a fair, and decided to stay.”
The first country that opened its doors
“I didn't choose to live in Brazil. I never thought that I would one day live outside my country. But I was in danger – my situation forced me to leave. I wanted to go to the US because I speak English, but it is very difficult to go there. You need to show proof of a bank account with sufficient funds to get a visa, and that was impossible for me to do. Brazil was the first country that opened its doors to me, so I came. I'm not happy. I'm just here looking for refuge.”
I come from a war at home
“I came to Brazil because my aunt – my father’s sister – was living here. I never met my father. My mother married another man, and my life was not easy with him. He tried to do sexual things to me. When I was 17 my mother told me to leave and look for my father's family. She could see it wasn't going to work out with my stepfather, and she wanted to protect me. I don't come from a civil war. I come from a war at home.”
Missionaries helped me escape genital mutilation
“My case was not domestic violence. It was a problem of religion. I was an outcast in my community because I refused genital mutilation. To escape this situation, I started researching for countries to flee to. I didn't know where to go. I dreamed of going to New Zealand, Australia, or the US. But I didn't have the money. I couldn’t get a visa to go to these places. I am a country girl; my mother is a farmer and we had no money. But I was part of a church in my country, and there were some Brazilian missionaries who said they could get me a visa. That's how I came to Brazil.”
I got a scholarship here
“Although I come from a country where there was civil war, I cannot say that I experienced the war as many people did. I was young when my family fled the conflict zone. In 2016, I won a scholarship from the Brazilian embassy. They were offering them to students who had performed above average in high school. We had to do a test and then come to Brazil. That's how I came here.”
To accompany this series, Missão Paz has also produced a legal support guide for migrants in Brazil. It offers helpful advice on a range of topics – from rights and immigration status to dealing with xenophobia, racism and hate crimes – as well as contact details for migrant support services in the country.
