Imigração haitiana e o Brasil: considerações sobre a negativa de caracterização do refúgio

Abstract

In 2010, Haiti was hit by an earthquake that not only aggravated the social, political and economic problems of the country, but also triggered a process of migration to many places, one of them, Brazil. When facing a large number of refuge requests from Haitians, Brazil decided to create a visa for humanitarian purposes. In this context, the borders were closed, and the Haitian migrants were required to have a visa in order to get into the country. The police was not letting them in, not even when they claimed to be refugees, which was an obvious violation to the principle of non-refoulement. Becoming aware of that fact, the Public Prosecutor’s Office decided to file a lawsuit against the government to ensure Haitians could be recognized as refugees, and be able to cross the borders again. Considering all the above, the aim of this paper is to analyse the refugee law and its principles through the mentioned lawsuit, and to clarify the reasons behind the decision given in the end of the case.