Brazil - Brazil’s Special Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, responsible for delivering an opinion on the Draft Law No. 2516 of 2015 of the Federal Senate of Brazil, has asked IOM technical support in the process of review and discussion of this project that, if approved, will replace the Federal Law No. 6.815 / 80 ("Statute do Estrangeiro" in Portuguese) enacted during the military dictatorship.

In response to this request, IOM provided comments to the bill during a public hearing held in the Chamber of Deputies in Brasilia on Wednesday November 11th. (Watch video)

Commenting on the draft law, IOM Regional Project Development Officer Matteo Mandrile said: “The bill integrates the main standards and principles of human rights based on both international treaties and the recommendations of the monitoring mechanisms of international agreements on the same subject.”

He emphasized that this is a significant and very positive change for the country, considering that the law passes from a security paradigm to one of human rights. "The regulation of this project will guarantee, in an effective and practical form, the wide recognition of rights and principles acknowledged by the draft text,” he added.

Deputy Orlando Silva, Rapporteur of the Special Commission of the Draft Law in the Chamber of Deputies, thanked IOM for its contribution to the construction of the new migration policy framework in Brazil.

He noted the objectivity of IOM’s technical observations and suggestions and said that they will be scrutinized by the Special Commission in order to finalize the bill before it is voted by the Chamber of Deputies.

Brazil joins other South American countries that have requested IOM’s technical support to discuss their draft laws related to migration. Recently, IOM technical specialists gave their comments on Ecuador’s draft Law on Human Mobility and Chile has expressed interest in receiving the same kind of support from IOM in relation to its draft Law on Migration.

In terms of migration, Brazil has gone from being a country of origin to a country of destination, mainly due to migration flows from the region. A gradual influx of Haitians stands out. In order to promote regular and safe migration from Haiti, IOM has, at the request of Brazil, recently opened a  visa application center in Port-au-Prince. The country also reports inflows of Dominicans and Africans, mainly from Senegal.

For further information, please contact Juliana Quintero at IOM Buenos Aires, Tel: +549 1132488134, Email: juquintero@iom.int