On January 5 of this year, as one of the first measures taken by the new government, Itamaraty announced that Brazil would return to the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. In contrast, at the beginning of the Bolsonaro government, in 2019, the country was withdrawn from the pact for reasons of national sovereignty . The then Chancellor Ernesto Araújo said that migration was not a global issue, but a matter for each country.

The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was signed in 2018 in Morocco and is a joint action by 164 countries to mitigate the effects of migration for refugees, ensuring a better quality of life and adaptation. In 2017, the world reached the mark of 258 million migrants.

In 2021, the number of refugees reached 89.3 million, with 69% of these coming from just five countries: Syria – leader of the list –, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar. The calamity situation in these countries, which suffer from civil war, political persecution, conflicts, violence and human rights violations, are the main causes of asylum requests.

Migration and refuge affect all continents and, therefore, it is an issue of extreme global importance. In the opinion of Alberto do Amaral, a professor at the Department of International Law at the USP Faculty of Law and a columnist for Rádio USP, the country’s return to the Pact is of double importance: a return to the international scene and playing a role in an important matter.

In his evaluation, the “Brazilian decision is totally right. It returns to the multilateral tradition of Brazilian foreign policy and is within our best diplomatic traditions since the Baron of Rio Branco”. Today, Brazil accumulates a huge queue of refugee requests, around 134 thousand.

government policy
The fact that Brazil remained outside the global pact – which is not obligatory, but rather a commitment signed between the countries – demonstrates the little importance given by the previous government to a matter of great magnitude. “This was not a government policy and now it is a government policy again”, says Alberto do Amaral. “The issue of immigrants and migrants is a human rights issue. Hence its fundamental importance in granting rights to a sector, to an extremely vulnerable group of people, who need international help and which Brazil, unfortunately, in the past, relegated to a secondary plan.”

He also recalls that cooperation is not unidirectional: when a country helps, it is helped. Currently, there are more than 4 million Brazilians living outside the national territory, more than immigrants who entered the territory. Adoption of the pact also means protection for Brazilians outside Brazil, explains Alberto.

Change of government, return to the pact
Leaving the pact relegated the country to a marginal position on the international scene when it comes to migration. Now, it is necessary for Brazilian opinion to be heard on the international stage. “Brazil is a regional power, which has a role to play, which has its own voice and has to make its voice heard at the international level in an autonomous way, without automatic links, for example, with the government of the States United States or the government of China. Brazil has to have an autonomous foreign policy that matches its interests and its greatness as a nation”, says the professor.

Migration is a problem that affects the entire globe, both those who suffer in their countries of origin and those who receive them. This is because increasing the number of people means greater responsibility and greater cost, in addition to the need for a structure and public policies that work.

In 2021 alone, more than 3,000 people died trying to cross by sea to reach Europe in search of stability and better living conditions. However, data from the UN Refugee Agency reveals that the countries that receive the most refugees are Turkey, Pakistan and Germany. In South America, Colombia stands out, as does Uganda on the African continent.

These countries, with the exception of Germany, are not considered developed and suffer from internal conflicts and instabilities of their own. Even so, they are responsible for welcoming these people: an asymmetry when compared to the conditions of European countries.