Keite Camacho
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasil - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Brazil (UNHCR) released a survey today (9) on the numbers and nationalities of the world's refugee population. According to the study, there are currently 3.4 thousand refugees living in Brazil. Most of them come from Angola, which is still recovering from a succession of civil wars lasting several decades.

According to the UNHCR representative in Brazil, Luís Varese, Brazil has some of the world's most progessive refugee laws. "The legislation is broad and modern and very rigorous in the selection process. For the UNHCR it is very gratifying to work in Brazil with these laws."

The Brazilian government is currently analyzing 195 requests for asylum. Most of them come from residents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and Colombia. The Ministry of Justice's National Committee on Refugees normally grants 40% of the requests it receives.

According to Varese, anyone who feels in need of international protection can, upon entering Brazil, request the Federal Police for asylum. "The applicant receives an official document and receives protection until asylum is granted. When asylum is granted, he(she) is vested with all the rights and obligations of a Brazilian citizen, except for political rights and military obligations."

To obtain asylum in Brazil, the applicant must demonstrate that he(she) is away from his(her) country of origin for reasons of race, religion, nationality, social group, or political opinion and is unable or unwilling to seek the protection of his(her) home country.

Asylum may also be requested by individuals who are forced to abandon their country of origin in face of a serious, widespread violation of human rights or by those who do not yet possess a nationality and cannot or will not return to the country where they last resided, for fear of persecution.

Translation: David Silberstein