Brazil- IOM and UNDP have signed an agreement to support the efforts of the Government of Brazil in consolidating its Refugee and Migration Policy, under a project agreed between the Brazilian National Secretariat of Justice and UNDP: Strengthening Institutional Capacity and Social Participation in the Justice Policy [Fortalecimento da Capacidade Institucional e da Participação Social na Política de Justiça].

The agreement was signed yesterday in Brasilia by IOM Regional Director for South America Diego Beltrand and UNDP Resident Coordinator in Brazil Niki Fabiancic, in the presence of Brazilian National Secretary of Justice Beto Ferreira Martins Vasconcelos.

IOM’s activities under the agreement will be financed by the Ministry of Justice and will complement the efforts of the National Secretariat of Justice and the Parliament aimed at modernizing the Law on Migration, providing inputs to the consolidation of the policy in relation to the Draft Law on migration No. 2516 of the Federal Senate of Brazil, currently under discussion in the Special Commission PL 2516/15 of the Chamber of Deputies. IOM provided comments to the bill during a public hearing held in the Chamber of Deputies in Brasilia on November 11th.

The agreement provides for a series of studies, workshops and capacity building activities, as well as the creation of a new database and statistics on the profile of migrants and refugees in Brazil. This data platform will allow adequate systematization of information on migration, asylum and statelessness, to produce relevant and strategic statistics for the formulation of public policies and for administrative decision-making on migration and asylum.

"The consolidation of the policy, along with the new legislation expected to be adopted, as well as other measures that the Brazilian government has taken to ensure the rights of migrants and refugees, is one of the key steps for further progress in modernizing migration policy and contributing to the prevention of discrimination and xenophobia," said Beltrand.

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. Brazil continues to attract significant numbers of migrants, with increases of 122 per cent between 2010 and 2014, according to the Brazilian National Registry of Foreigners (RNE). In particular, the flow of Haitians who are beneficiaries of a humanitarian visa stands out, with 58,000 Haitians registered since 2010.

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