estudos internacionais • Belo Horizonte, ISSN 2317-773X, v. 10, n. 3, (out. 2022), p. 88-103

The Limitations and Challenges of the

Reception for Immigrants and Refugees in

the City of Dourados-MS

Cesar Augusto Silva da Silva1

Julia Stefanello Pires2

DOI: 10.5752/P.2317-773X.2022v10n3p88-103

Recebido em: 28 de junho de 2022

Aprovado em: 6 de março de 2023

ABSTRACT

This work aims to present the limits and challenges for the reception and inte-

gration of immigrants and refugees in the city of Dourados, federative unit of

Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, in the context of the international migrations in the

region. Through document analysis and national and international bibliograph-

ic survey, the socioeconomic data of the Municipality and the demands of immi-

grants in the area are presented, particularly the dynamics of infrastructure and

education. It is concluded that the gaps in terms of Portuguese classes, recep-

tion infrastructure and bureaucratic procedures for school integration are still

very evident challenges in this specic municipality in Brazil.

Keywords: Dourados-MS; Challenges; Immigrants; Refugees; Integration.

INTRODUCTION

The objective of this article is to analyze the network of reception,

assistance and search for integration of international immigrants in the

city of Dourados, federative unit of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Through

a national and international bibliographic research, and analysis of o-

cial documents, the work sought to present the international migratory

ow in the region of Dourados; then contextualizing the structure of

services to immigrants and refugees, mainly, a database on the presence

and participation of young immigrants in the area.

Based on international relations literature and on ocial reports

from the Brazilian government, the International Organization for Mi-

gration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the

work attempts to demonstrate the limitations and challenges of integra-

tion of Haitians and Venezuelans in this city in Brazil. In other words,

what are the problems of the city of Dourados to receive immigrants and

refugees? The work will develop seeking answers to these questions.

Challenges, dilemmas and limitations that arise when the city of

Dourados does not have the structure to receive the entire ow of inter-

national immigrants from Haiti or Venezuela, local authorities seem un-

1. Professor da Faculdade de Direito da

Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso

do Sul (FADIR/UFMS). Mestre em

Direito (com área de concentração em

Relações Internacionais) pela Universi-

dade Federal de Santa Catarina. Doutor

em Ciência Política pela Universidade

Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. E-mail:

cesar.a.silva@ufms.br. ORCID: orcid.

org/0000-0002-8537-4401.

2. Doutoranda em Direito Socioam-

biental pela PUC-PR, com realização de

periodo sanduíche na Alemanha (FAU-

-Erlangen-Nürnberg), com ﬁnanciamento

pela CAPES. Mestra em Fronteiras e

Direitos Humanos pela Universidade

Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD).

Bacharela em Direito pela Universidade

Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD).

E-mail: juliastefanello27@gmail.com.

ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9792-2076.

Cesar Augusto Silva da Silva, Julia Stefanello Pires

The Limitaons and Challenges of the Recepon for Immigrants and Refugees in the City of Dourados-MS

prepared to deal with these situations, schools are not multicultural and

most of the locals speak only the native language. This makes it extremely

dicult for the displaced people to communicate with the host society.

The local society of the city of Dourados seemed not to be prepared

to receive a relatively large ow, particularly of Venezuelans in its space,

and the problems of xenophobia, negative propaganda, with the presence

of immigrants at the city’s trac lights, seem to highlight the tensions

and the estrangement of the locals with the newcomers.

In this work, Venezuelans are classied as refugees as provided

for in Brazilian law 9.474/1997 (BRASIL, 1997), provided for in Article

1, reproducing the provisions of the 1951 Geneva Convention and the

1984 Cartagena Declaration. Refugee law is a substitute protection in the

sense that it is a response to disfranchisement from the usual benets

of nationality (HATHAWAY, FOSTER, 2014). Just as Haitians are con-

sidered immigrants as stated in Law n. 13.445/2017 (BRASIL, 2017) and

legislation that regulates it (Migration Law). With regard to the norma-

tive treatment given to Haitians, a humanitarian visa was granted, which

was the response adopted by the country since 2012 when the Haitian

migratory ow became considerable. (GODOY, 2012; SILVA, ASSIS, 2016)

Regarding Venezuelans, it is necessary to say that in addition to

the provisions of law 9.474/97 (BRASIL, 1997), the migratory categories

available for regularization of Venezuelans began to be presented from

2017 with the Normative Resolution of the National Immigration Coun-

cil n. 126, in a context in which the new Migration Law was still being

discussed. (JAROCHINSKI SILVA, 2018). However, in a discretionary

manner and despite these new guidelines, subsequent responses, such as

Interministerial Ordinance n. 9 (March 2018) and Interministerial Ordi-

nance n. 19 (March 2021), hover as part of the Brazilian responses little

impacted by the new law 13.445/2017 (JAROCHINSKI SILVA, VELAS-

QUEZ, 2021).

Considering that the Brazilian government decided to act more

clearly on the country’s border with Venezuela from February 2018, with

the emergence of Operation Welcome, a coordinated eort for the recep-

tion and interiorization of Venezuelan people within Brazilian territory

(ACNUR BRASIL, 2022).

The refugee and immigrants are both a product of, and remains

closely embedded in, a complex interplay between state prerogatives and

human rights, and politics and law. (HANSEN, 2011). It is very important

to say that regardless of the normative classication established by the

States, the central issue is the development of the protection of the hu-

man rights of international immigrants. Checking the approaches and

convergences of protection for immigrants and refugees. (ARCE, 2022;

CANÇADO TRINDADE, 1997)

THE FLOW OF IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES IN THE CITY OF

DOURADOS

First, it is important to know that the city of Dourados is in the

countryside of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), in Brazil’s Midwest

estudos internacionais • Belo Horizonte, ISSN 2317-773X, v. 10, n. 3, (out. 2022), p. 88-103

region, about 130 km from the dry border with Paraguay and the so called

“sister towns” of Ponta Porã (Brazil) and Pedro Juan Caballero (Paraguay),

the state is largely constituted within an international border zone. Thus,

cross-border issues are a recurring theme in the region’s experience.

As one of the main cities in the state and the largest in the southern

region of MS, in terms of infrastructure, population and economy, Doura-

dos settles itself down in a strategic location in the migratory routes that

go through the region, covering events related to cross-border citizens,

with problems specic to dry border region, but also being the route of

international migratory ows that reach the country as a whole, as in the

case of Venezuelans and Haitians.

The city has four universities, thus having a large ow of young

people, and therefore happens to welcome those ones seeking university

education in the region. In the performance of assistance and reception of

immigrants, the public universities of the place stand out. However, with

serious limitations regarding the physical structure and human resources

capacity to oer Portuguese classes to immigrants and refugees (BORG-

ES, JESUS, 2021). Making it dicult to implement an eective refugee

protection regime (BETTS, LOESCHER, 2012).

It is also a city with industrial hubs, in which refrigeration indus-

tries, play a fundamental role, in relation to the classication of the Na-

tional Register of Economic Activities (CNAE), the processing industries

and agricultural activities, in general, are listed as the main private eco-

nomic activities of the state (SEMAGRO, 2017). Job opportunities in the

industries, commerce and agricultural activities in the region are also

a strong appeal for young people looking for a place in the market, al-

though some jobs depend on higher qualications.

Face to such issues, the legal and international studies of universi-

ties always reected the transnational matters that involved the region,

which, consequently, ended up attracting the study of international re-

gimes of protection (KRASNER, 1983). A study that resulted in the tech-

nical-scientic partnership between the United Nations High Commis-

sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and university, through the Chair Sergio

Vieira de Mello (CSVM), started in 2014 (UNHCR, 2017).

Since then, the project has attracted academics and professors from

the Law and International Relations courses, and since 2016, with the

creation of the Master’s degree in Borders and Human Rights, it start-

ed to count on the participation of Master’s students who worked with

the theme. Currently, the Chair is in full expansion, establishing links

with the most diverse areas of research and extension, which has enabled

the expansion of its political and social range. However, still not enough

for the arrival of more than 3 thousand Venezuelans and more than a

thousand Haitians. There are few language teachers engaged in helping

immigrants, and the physical structure oered for classes is not of great

quality (SILVA, 2021).

The policy for granting humanitarian visas since 2012 has intensi-

ed the migratory ow of Haitians to Brazil (JESUS, 2020), and Doura-

dos-MS, due to its geographic and socioeconomic structure, has also be-

come a place of interest for immigrants, in special, young immigrants,

Cesar Augusto Silva da Silva, Julia Stefanello Pires

The Limitaons and Challenges of the Recepon for Immigrants and Refugees in the City of Dourados-MS

looking for job opportunities. Which has led many of them to frustration

for not being able to get jobs that pay high prices, given the nature of the

work oered in slaughterhouses and charcoal plants. (JESUS, 2020)

This way, several groups of forced immigrants, end up carrying out

their migratory ow through their share capital, considering this term as

the ability to benet from networks or other social structures, invoking

it to understand the paths and ways of insertion in the country of destina-

tion (PEIXOTO, 2017). Looking for migratory ways, leaving their country

of origin and entering the host nation, which has already been traveled

and explored by their family members, friends and acquaintances, using

other compatriots to be received at their destination and understand the

means of social integration.

Upon receiving the rst ows of immigrants, they began to call oth-

er colleagues, friends and family members to go to Dourados and the near-

by region, due to job opportunities (JESUS, 2020). It can be said that the

region came to be considered a great opportunity for groups through its so-

cial capital, a network of connections between the immigrants themselves.

The increase in arrivals also resulted in an increase in issues to be resolved,

particularly greater social assistance from the City Hall, better structure

and more human resources for Portuguese classes (SILVA, PIRES, 2021).

Initiatives to receive and assist immigrants and refugees are still

very much located in the university environment and in civil society

through churches and religious communities. When some of these im-

migrants are found on the streets and at trac lights, it is enough for

members of the local society to complain, to show their extreme discon-

tent, which reverberates in the local press.

Still, given the demand, the service structure for this population

was being structured, based on scientic and academic research on the

subject, creating a welcoming network in university environments, due

to the scientic technical partnership developed with the United Nations

High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Over time, in addition to migrant social network, other means of

internalizing immigrants began to bring new migratory ows to the city,

as in the case with Operation Welcome, a partnership among the army,

the federal government, United Nations agencies (UN) and civil society

entities. In a context in which the Americas region hosted more than 5.1

million people displaced across borders (20 % of the global population),

with 86% being Venezuelans. Sharp growth in the number of Venezue-

lans displaced abroad accounted for much of the 11% rise (524.000) across

the Americas (UNHCR, 2022). With the job opportunities in a large meat

processing company in the city, many Venezuelans left Pacaraima and

were sent to the city of Dourados with a guaranteed job. (IOM, 2020a;

UNHCR, 2022)

Dourados is estimated to have been the fourth national town to re-

ceive more Venezuelan refugees through Operation Welcome, with the

arrival of three thousand immigrants through the project. It is estimated

that in the operation’s internalization program, of the total of Venezue-

lan immigrants, 36% were men over 18 years old and 285 women over 18

years old, with only 17% of the total traveling alone. (IOM, 2020a).

estudos internacionais • Belo Horizonte, ISSN 2317-773X, v. 10, n. 3, (out. 2022), p. 88-103

Thus, even though some ows are organized and well structured,

as is the case with groups that have undergone the process of internaliz-

ing Operation Welcome, once in the destination city, the eective inte-

gration of these individuals requires local support and care. In the case of

Dourados, civil society (churches and non-governmental organizations),

in conjunction mainly with local universities, has played this role in the

immigrants and refugees lives in the region.

Making it clear the limits and challenges of Operation Welcome

with regard to the local integration of Venezuelans regarding interna-

tional cooperation, and the crisis of forced displacement of the people of

that country (LOESCHER, 1993). The ow of these people seems to be

greater than the city’s structure oers, there is a disagreement between

federal and local authorities (SILVA, 2021), and the good practices publi-

cized by international and national organizations present clear problems

(BETTS, COULLIER, 2017).

In addition to the migration policy, which needs to be in line with

the social reality of the country and its dierent regions, the reaction

of the host society will be another variable factor in the integration of

migrant workers, which will depend on their own recruitment of mech-

anisms developed by the employers themselves, who will determine the

placement of the migrant in certain segments of work (PEIXOTO, 2017).

It cannot be forgotten that it is in the social eld that the legal norms

are materialized/become concrete, and although Brazilian law does not

allow the repeal of the law due to disuse, it is evident that if the society

of destination does not transform the principle of hospitality and inte-

gration rules as a social norm, it will be much more dicult to develop

protective immigration policies.

In the next topics, we will rst discuss how it developed and what

is the current status of the immigrants’ service structure in the city of

Dourados, with special attention to the activities developed by universi-

ties in the region. Afterwards, the data on the care of young immigrants

will be analyzed, and their leading role in the integration of the groups

themselves in the region.

THE SERVICE STRUCTURE

Despite Dourados is in a border region, the city has never counted

on a special structure to assist immigrants or cross-border issues, and

only with the recent migration ows of Venezuelans and Haitians made

these topics come to be addressed in a dierent way a more strategic way.

In 2014, an agreement was signed with UNHCR for the creation

of the Sergio Vieira de Mello’s Chair (CSVM), and consolidated in 2015,

when university ended up hosting the VI National Seminar of the Ser-

gio Vieira de Mello’s Chair, unprecedentedly held in Mato Grosso do Sul

(ACNUR, 2015).

During this period, the project gained strength particularly in the

area of extension. Firstly, an articulation of partnership and contribu-

tion was made with the Extension Project “Facilitation Actions for the

Social Insertion of Haitians in Dourados”, developed since March 2017

Cesar Augusto Silva da Silva, Julia Stefanello Pires

The Limitaons and Challenges of the Recepon for Immigrants and Refugees in the City of Dourados-MS

( BORGES, JESUS, 2021). The project held Portuguese classes as a hostess

language for Haitians living in the city of Dourados, seeking to provide

the language as a means of social, cultural and psychological integration

of these individuals to the hostess society. (BORGES, JESUS, 2021)

With the articulation between the CSVM, the number of volun-

teers available to the Extension Project was expanded, and support was

also provided by the Dean of Extension, which started to supply materi-

als such as folders, notebooks, pens, pencils and erasers, in order to facil-

itate the accomplishment of classes (BANZATTO, NICOLAU, 2018). The

studies in geography (JESUS, 2020), collaborating with the project who

had carried out a mapping of Haitians in the city and in the State of Mato

Grosso do Sul, were also used. With such structure and information, it

was possible to establish new schedules and places for the classes.

In 2018, the project continued with the oer of classes in three

dierent locations, with exible hours and adjusted according to the de-

mand of the Haitian population. In 2019, classes were extended to all in-

ternational immigrants and the participant Jorge Delmar da Rosa da Silva

Jr., master’s student at the Faculty of Letters, started to develop a calendar

with the themes and activities to be addressed in each class, providing

the material with the classes ready for the program’s volunteer teach-

ers (SILVA, PIRES, 2021). In 2020 the project for Portuguese classes as a

hostess language was institutionalized and passed to PROEX, which now

oers the course “Portuguese for Foreigners: Reception Module”, by the

Training Center of the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD).

A commendable but extremely timid initiative to teach so many immi-

grants.

From the connection with the extension project, it approached the

work of the sisters who coordinate the Casa Irmã Dulce project, a charity

house that served as a welcoming place for relatives and sick people from

neighboring cities, but that ended up having no use, considering that the

City Halls started to provide transport to citizens who went for consulta-

tion or medical assistance (SILVA, PIRES, 2021). The residence ended up

becoming a place for welcoming immigrants, rst being the headquar-

ters of the Portuguese courses, later as a point of care for the demands of

this population.

Since the beginning of 2019, volunteers from Law and International

Relations courses go to Casa Irmã Dulce on Sundays, where they provide

legal assistance and receive the demands of the immigrant community,

which are guided and brought for discussion by members of the CSVM

(SILVA, PIRES, 2021). The main points covered are: legal and psychosocial

assistance, renewal of passports (Haitians), diploma validation, domestic

violence and human rights violations, vacancies in daycare centers and

public schools, among other services. And the trend has been to strength-

en the growing partnership between Faculty of Law and Casa Irmã Dulce

for future assistance to immigrants in these areas.

Also in 2019, with the intense ow of Venezuelans who arrived in

Dourados, CSVM became part of Operation Welcome in the region, a

cooperation from UNHCR, International Organization for Migration

(IOM), Civil House, Ministry of Citizenship, Defense Ministry. The op-

estudos internacionais • Belo Horizonte, ISSN 2317-773X, v. 10, n. 3, (out. 2022), p. 88-103

eration carries out the monitoring and socioeconomic prole of Venezue-

lan immigrants, among other activities, such as public health campaigns,

prevention and combating domestic violence, legal and social advice, and

is becoming relevant to the plan of interiorization of Venezuelan immi-

grants in the region. (SILVA, 2021).

Operation considered one of the best practices carried out by the

Brazilian government to receive immigrants, but it presents some prob-

lems that become challenges for its implementation. Problems related to

the structure to receive immigrants, a lack of cooperation between the

dierent levels of governance in the country and the possibility of the

Operation not leaving any legacy for the population of the State of Rorai-

ma, as well as for the regions of destination of immigrants (Mato Grosso

do Sul). Questions raised by researchers linked to the Sergio Vieira de

Mello Chair from dierent Brazilian universities. (UNHCR, 2019)

For example, the local authorities of Dourados or even the govern-

ment of Mato Grosso do Sul were unaware that Venezuelans would ar-

rive in the region as a result of Operation Welcome, not being prepared to

oer public services (SILVA, 2021). Only the partner, the company Seara

Alimentos (JBS), was aware, as it would receive the Venezuelans in their

jobs. It should be noted that jobs in slaughterhouses, with bad wages and

low added value, to which Venezuelans might not adapt. It is important

to note that if a Venezuelan immigrant gives up this process of internal-

ization in Dourados, he is completely free to change cities or return to

Venezuela, but he does not receive the logistical and nancial assistance

of the actors of Operation Welcome. (SILVA, 2021).

Just as the Venezuelans were initially welcomed on an emergen-

cy basis in the spaces provided by the Catholic Church, which did not

always have the ideal conditions to meet all the needs of the individuals

who stayed there temporarily, such as the number of bathrooms and bed-

rooms (SILVA, 2021).

The participation of the local administration of Dourados in the

Operation only took place from the fourth stage of interiorization, from

2019 through the donation of 60 mattresses and visits by the Municipal

Secretary of Social Assistance, at the Rural Social Center São Vicente de

Paulo, in Indápolis, in March 2019.

Visits in which social workers collected information from 120 Ven-

ezuelan immigrants to register them in the Single Registry for Social Pro-

grams of the Federal Government, aimed at the low-income population,

as well as dissemination of the form of action and location of the so-called

Social Assistance Reference Centers, Specialized Social Assistance Cen-

ters and Specialized Reference Centers for the homeless (SILVA, 2021).

It should be noted that in 2021 there was an increase of 208 requests

compared to to the year 2020, when Brazil received 28.899 requests for

recognition of refugee status. It is of relevant data for understanding the

Brazilian dynamics of refuge in the context of Covid-19 pandemic, as

there is no way to dissociate the stability observed between the years of

2020 and 2021 of the scenario of greatest limitations the movement of

people and border control, when measures to restrict the entry of immi-

grants in the country were taken due to the pandemic (BRASIL, 2022).

Cesar Augusto Silva da Silva, Julia Stefanello Pires

The Limitaons and Challenges of the Recepon for Immigrants and Refugees in the City of Dourados-MS

Another initiative worth mentioning was the State Committee for

Refugees, Migrants and Stateless Persons (CERMA/MS), created in Sep-

tember 2016, state meeting to discuss the topic (MS, 2016). The embryo of

creation was the contact between the members of the Organizing Com-

mittee, still during the 6th Seminar of the National Chair, in 2015. Al-

though the entity continues to operate in a slow and reactive way, lacking

long-term planning and governance (BETTS, 2009).

Within Dourados, CSVM has also been partnering with profes-

sionals from other areas, expanding the approach beyond the perspec-

tive of Law and International Relations. Since 2019, professors, master’s

students and academics from other courses, started attending meetings

and debating problems and possible solutions in their areas of study and

performance (SILVA, PIRES, 2021). One of the projects, which emerged

from this interdisciplinary approach, was the monitoring of immigrant

children and adolescents/teenagers in the public education network.

University structures, with the support of undergraduate, graduate

students, technicians and teachers, have become very important strategi-

cally over time, including for UNHCR and other international organiza-

tions, given that the town of Dourados ended up being transformed one

of the poles of Operation Welcome promoted by the federal government

and the consequent ow of Venezuelans towards the city (IOM, 2022).

In addition to these structures, the town also counts on federal gov-

ernment entities, such as the Federal Public Defender’s Oce (DPU) and

the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Oce (MPF), free legal assistance and

assistance bodies, which defend collective and individual rights (in the

case of DPU), and also assist in the care of immigrants. It is important

to mention that Dourados is one of the only towns in the countryside of

Mato Grosso do Sul to have such structures, which end up meeting the

demands of other towns in the region.

In 2020, with the arrival of the pandemic caused by COVID-19,

new challenges emerged in the solutions to migration issues, in addition

to what the international community predicted (UNHCR, 2020). In the

midst of discussions on how to maintain assistance, without exposing

volunteers and immigrants themselves to the risk of infection, the care

network has found creative ways to continue their work of extension,

teaching and research.

Within the scope of teaching and research, several online events

have been held by the Chair’s participants. In these events, the main topic

of discussion has been the diculties and solutions found for internation-

al migration issues in COVID-19 times, both in Mato Grosso do Sul and

in the world. In addition to the participation of members of the Chair as

listeners in training courses and discussions promoted by other entities.

Likewise, the study group continues with its biweekly meetings held re-

motely.

In Extension programs, despite the risks and impediments caused

by the moment, CSVM continued its service, both in receiving immi-

grants arriving in Dourados, and in assisting those who are already estab-

lished in Dourados, which has been carried out on-line, por “whatsapp”

application messaging service and by email. (SILVA, PIRES, 2021).

estudos internacionais • Belo Horizonte, ISSN 2317-773X, v. 10, n. 3, (out. 2022), p. 88-103

Besides the activities promoted in Dourados, volunteers have also

endeavored to publicize solutions and initiatives proposed by other in-

stitutions, some for the improvement of volunteers and others for the

assistance of immigrants, such as assistance applicatives, classes in Portu-

guese as a hostess language for remote way, among others.

The world is still experiencing the uncertainties of the pandemic,

and Brazil is currently one of the points of concern for the advancement

of COVID-19. Many challenges will lie ahead, during and after the period

that the pandemic has started. Nevertheless, it is noticeable the initiative

and the union of universities in proposing solutions and continuing the

extension projects to serve and assist this even more vulnerable popula-

tion in the current scenario.

DATA ON THE ROLE OF IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES IN DOURADOS

The diculties faced on the way, such as bribes, human track-

ing, sexual exploitation of women, documentation fees, tickets, and du-

bious paths, also cause reactive or involuntary migrations to be as much

as selective in the demographic, economic and gender sense, favoring

men, young people, with better nancial and physical conditions (RICH-

MOND, 1993), so that, although vulnerable, there are diculties inherent

to the migratory movement that end up making migration more possible

to a certain prole of people.

Assistance to incoming immigrants, as a group and as individuals,

must take these particularities into account. In this sense, when think-

ing about service, reception and integration, civil society groups, govern-

ment and entities must think about strategies according to the character-

istics of those immigrants, such as age, gender and nationality.

Dourados experience, especially that experienced by universities,

showed that Portuguese courses for immigrants are a gateway to inte-

gration (AIZAWA, 2020). Firstly by allowing them to have contact with

the language of the host country, secondly, classes are a point of exchange

among teachers (volunteers) and students, so that volunteers collect infor-

mation about the needs of immigrants, and they become aware services

that are accessible at university centers and within the government in

general. Although there are few teachers and there is a lack of structure

to welcome more immigrants. (BORGES, JESUS, 2021).

Within the scope of courses in Portuguese as a hostess language,

the project “Portuguese for Foreigners: Welcoming Module” fellow in

the course of Portuguese for Foreigners as a Hostess language (PLAc), in

the pandemic period is composed of three classes, a total of thirty-four

students, the age of those enrolled being between 18 years and 65 years

(SILVA, PIRES, 2021).

In this period of online classes, the students enrolled are Haitian,

Venezuelan, Bolivian, Colombian nationalities. In the pre-pandemic pe-

riod, the course had more than ve classes among dierent points of

Dourados, with more than 150 students distributed among the classes,

students of Haitian, Venezuelan, Bolivian, Colombian, Mexican, Indian,

Iraqi, Paraguayan, African. and Peruvian nationalities. (UNHCR, 2017).

Cesar Augusto Silva da Silva, Julia Stefanello Pires

The Limitaons and Challenges of the Recepon for Immigrants and Refugees in the City of Dourados-MS

During classes, the teaching of the Portuguese language goes be-

yond, not only being limited to the teaching of grammatical rules, but it

is also an approach to the language as a form of reception. In the materi-

al, developed by volunteers and focused on specic issues of the region,

students have contact with slang, idioms, characteristics of the city, the

region and the local culture. Topics such as the division of the city, how

to use public transport, food names, landmarks of the city are addressed,

among other situations experienced daily by citizens. That is, focused on

socio-linguistic aspects, in order to achieve interculturality with immi-

grants, and they feel closer to local customs. (BORGES, JESUS, 2021)

Therefore, it is important to observe that an intercultural educa-

tion can be a viable alternative to promote the ght against racist and xe-

nophobic manifestations, since allowing the existence of ethnic manifes-

tations in the school environment reinforces the importance of a society

oriented on the premise of global coexistence in which the people learn

to live together by accepting and understanding cultural, social, ethnic

and gender dierences. (CORRÊA, 2022)

The moment of the classes also serves for immigrants to present

questions related to their daily lives, such as expressions they heard from

colleagues at work and Brazilian friends. Over time, classes became the

meeting point of the university itself with the migrant population, who

used their time to explain various problems they had as a result of their

migratory status (documentation problems, local xenophobia, racism,

knowledge of Brazilian legislation). Thus, the need to establish specic

assistance for these issues arose.

Legal and assistance services at Casa Irmã Dulce started in 2019,

being established to take place every Sunday, considering that it would

be a time when immigrants would not be working. At rst, the service

dealt with more documentary and administrative issues, especially the

collection of documents for renewing Haitian passports (AIZAWA, 2020).

However, as time went by the issues have diversied. Currently, one of

the biggest demands is the regularization of school children.

Under the supervision of teachers and project coordinators, assis-

tance is provided by young university students and graduate students,

who are available to collect information, documents and send the case

so that the necessary measures can be taken. In 2019, 80% of the consul-

tations were provided to Haitian nationals, and in second place, repre-

senting 18% of those attended, were Venezuelans. Of the total, 59% were

male, 39% female and 2% transgender women. Approximately 31% of the

demands were nalized, the rest were still pending documentation by

the beneciaries, or the response of other agencies involved in the assis-

tance. (SILVA, PIRES, 2021)

The majority of those assisted were young, with only 13% being

over 41 at the time of service. About 34% were between 19 and 30 years

old, and also 34% between 31 and 40 years old. Of the total of assisted,

15% were from 0 to 18 years old. Demonstrating a young migratory pro-

le, in relation to those assisted by the legal services sector of CSVM,

therefore prone to insertion in the local labor market (IOM, 2020b). From

the presentation of the demands, the volunteers started to categorize the

estudos internacionais • Belo Horizonte, ISSN 2317-773X, v. 10, n. 3, (out. 2022), p. 88-103

services, make plans and spreadsheets, in addition to internal booklets,

with documentation and information necessary for each type of service.

The assistance to immigrants was structured and expanded, according to

the needs of those assisted.

Another point that became very important was the personal ac-

companiment of immigrants to places of care, such as the Federal Police,

where the Brazilian migratory police are located (IOM, 2020b). It turns

out that linguistic obstacles often prevented immigrants from having ac-

cess to certain rights, as they were unable to express themselves or under-

stand what the attendants requested, so the help of volunteers has been

essential to guarantee certain rights. A factor already pointed out even by

other reports or books, only regarding the socio-demographic prole of

refugees. (LIMA, 2017)

The presence of young immigrants was essential for the political

and social organization of their countrymen in the region, and in 2019

the Association of Haitians was created in Dourados chaired and founded

by youngs Haitians, residents of the city since 2016. Far beyond the earth-

quake that struck the country in 2010, Haitians blames his departure on

the lack of opportunities for growth in his native country (IOM, 2022).

The young Haitians, in addition to creating the Association of Hai-

tians in Dourados, provide initial assistance to immigrants arriving in

the city. Due to their prociency in the Portuguese language and the

connection created with the service entities, they are key people in the

dialogue between the Haitian community and the local support network

(AIZAWA, 2020). In the same way as dialogue with the local authorities

in the sense of trying to overcome the social and economic needs.

Along the same lines, the organization created by the Venezuelans,

called Dunamis Multicultural (Multicultural Association Dunamis by

Dourados and Region) defends the interests and helps the newly arrived

Venezuelan immigrants and residents in the region. (SILVA, PIRES, 2021)

At this point, it is worth mentioning that Venezuelans study at uni-

versities in Dourados, some having completed higher education or have

reached the condition of completing courses and revalidating diplomas, one

of the greatest demands of the present Venezuelan community, since many

doors are closed to immigrants who do not have their recognized diplomas.

One of the most sensitive challenges for Venezuelans and one of the obvious

gaps in Brazilian migration policy in the attempt to integrate these people.

Very few Brazilian universities oer the service of exempting the

payment of fees for immigrants who try to revalidate their diplomas. One

of those that can be mentioned is the Federal University of Mato Grosso

do Sul (UFMS), but it is not the case of the universities located in Doura-

dos. One of the academic limitations of the region. (SILVA, 2021)

Some of the Venezuelans who live in Dourados are authors of

books, chronicles and poetry. Such as “Mujer Imigrante” published by

Arebol Coletivo. The book written in Spanish talks about the cultural

roots of the immigrants present in the city, narrating the long journey

from Venezuela to Brazil. (SILVA, PIRES, 2021)

For them, it is a memoir that gives voice to Latin American im-

migrant, especially regarding the adversities they all go through when

Cesar Augusto Silva da Silva, Julia Stefanello Pires

The Limitaons and Challenges of the Recepon for Immigrants and Refugees in the City of Dourados-MS

leaving their homeland, rewriting their lives elsewhere, in the role of

workers, mothers, and wives. From the Venezuelan point of view, since

they left their homeland, they remember the parties and meetings with

nostalgia, as they had an intense cultural participation in the country,

developing community actions.

The political crisis of Nicolas Maduro’s government has deeper

roots and has an impact on all sectors, including the cultural one. Vene-

zuelan poets say there is no paper to print books in their homeland, and

the internet service doesn’t work very well. Governments that don’t give

importance to cultural diversities don’t really think about the country or

its people, says the writer.

For the eective integration of young immigrants in the region,

two paths have been analyzed in the context of formal education: the

recognition of foreign diplomas, which are at high cost, and the access

of these young people to quality education for training in Brazil, as well

as due monitoring to ensure that they are adapting to formal Brazilian

education. (BETTS, LOESCHER, 2012).

While legal assistance has guaranteed children, immigrants or

daughters of immigrants, access to free, quality public education, Por-

tuguese classes as a hostess language have sought to guide young people

and adults to take tests to access universities technical education.

Even though universities in the Dourados region have not yet de-

veloped a system for welcoming these immigrants to the higher educa-

tion system, either through exemption from fees for the recognition of

degrees or the availability of specic places, some ways have been taken

with inspiration and example from other universities. (SILVA, 2021)

The availability of places for refugees in some universities in the

region is mentioned, through a specic selection process, called Exter-

nal Transfer, Refugees and Diploma Holders, where applications from

foreigners holding a refugee, humanitarian or family reunion visa are

accepted. In addition to specic resolutions, which grant exemption from

fees for the revalidation of diplomas and recognition of foreign under-

graduate and graduate courses strictu sensu for refugees, asylum seek-

ers and immigrants with a humanitarian reception visa (AIZAWA, 2020).

The obvious limitations are that these processes appear only at the Fed-

eral University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), and not at the universities

and faculties present in Dourados or other regions of Mato Grosso do Sul.

It is noticed that young immigrants have an active participation in

the development of integration projects in the city of Dourados. Empow-

ering young migrants is, therefore, a form of empowerment for the entire

community around them. (AIZAWA, 2020) In addition to the assistance

provided to their families, both those who stayed in the country of origin

and those who accompanied them in the migratory ow, young people

also strengthen community ties with other immigrants, providing help

on issues they are already aware of.

Whether through study, job opportunities or the recognition of

their space in society, young immigrants in Dourados have shown that

giving them space is giving space to their entire community. Through

associations, idealized and made up of young people, migrant communi-

100

estudos internacionais • Belo Horizonte, ISSN 2317-773X, v. 10, n. 3, (out. 2022), p. 88-103

ties exchange experience, live their culture and form a support network

among themselves, it is the strengthening of migrant social capital. Going

further, they provide knowledge and opportunities for other migrants to

ascend, ghting for causes such as access to education and recognition of

foreign degrees.

Due to the pandemic, voluntary eorts remained hindered, but as-

sistance to migratory issues continued to occur even though remotely.

There is a lot to be done so that immigrants from the region can be in-

tegrated, however, universities have proved to be an excellent point for

ideas, debates and assistance to immigrants in Dourados and the region.

At this point, young people also stand out. Despite the pandemic,

migratory ows have not ceased to exist, so new strategies need to be

thought to accommodate these individuals. The network of connections

among immigrants has helped to monitor those who arrive in the city,

and the mastery of technologies is essential for the provision of informa-

tion and referral to medical care, if necessary.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

The research and extension projects were developed with the

theme of immigrants and refugees at the center of the debates and ana-

lyzes, particularly after the ow of Venezuelans arriving in Mato Grosso

do Sul and municipality of Dourados. On one hand, research aimed at

immigrants in all their particularities regarding gender, ethnicity, pro-

les and motivations has been the object of research both in undergradu-

ate universities in the region and in graduate school. And such initiatives

have been transformed into scientic initiation projects, course comple-

tion works and master’s thesis projects.

On the other hand, the initiatives around the extension have been

enabling partnerships and cooperation with entities that work directly

with the issue of international migration and refugees in the city, such as

Casa Irmã Dulce, Operation Welcome, among other religious entities of

civil society organized. As a growing trend, these initiatives around part-

nerships with other university, religious and humanitarian institutions.

Portuguese class projects for young immigrants and partnerships

from universities present in Dourados who also study the topic, have

been made possible due to the presence of the Sérgio Vieira de Mello’s

Chair, and the expressive number of students and teachers interested in

developing projects of teaching, research and extension in the interdisci-

plinary area in assisting immigrants, in all its facets. Thus, not only Law

and International Relations courses are involved in the Chair’s projects,

that is, also professionals and students from other areas, such as Geogra-

phy, Letters and Psychology.

Legal assistance has sought to ensure that immigrant children and

young people have access to a free, high-level public education, to Portu-

guese classes as a hostess language has sought to particularly guide young

people to conduct tests for access to local universities, technical education,

and a better insertion in the local labor market. The role of immigrants

themselves, especially young people, in the political organization for their

101

Cesar Augusto Silva da Silva, Julia Stefanello Pires

The Limitaons and Challenges of the Recepon for Immigrants and Refugees in the City of Dourados-MS

demands, has been a major factor for their demands to be considered with

the local government, as in the cases of Haitians and Venezuelans.

Anyway, thanks to the eorts and the dissemination of the work

of the Catedra in Dourados, more research is being developed on the

theme, which enriches and strengthens the discussion of the subject, al-

lowing the analysis of the points still to be improved in the service and

integration of the migrant, and in the diagnosis of what can be done or

corrected for the creation of more ecient public policies to serve this

marginalized population.

The pandemic worsened a situation that was already in a delicate

state, demanding even more goodwill from volunteers and employees.

The existence of service networks has proved essential to serve this pop-

ulation, particularly young immigrants in Dourados, in this period of un-

certainty. Over time, the path taken by these young people, from their

original lands to the city of Dourados, in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul,

needs to be more highlighted and more emphasized, considering the pe-

culiarities brought by their stories and by their exceptional life trajectories.

Despite some of these advances, the limits and challenges for a bet-

ter reception and integration of immigrants and refugees are located in a

better management of the structure of public services and cooperation at

the three levels of government spheres in Brazil. Increase in the service

oering structure, dissemination of Portuguese classes at a socio-cultural

level, combating misinformation and xenophobia on the part of the of

population of Dourados.

In other terms, regarding the problem of what are the limitations

and challenges of the city of Dourados for receiving immigrants and ref-

ugees, they are of all kinds. Particularly a small and punctual structure

for host Portuguese classes, oer of jobs with low added value and little

information from the local population regarding the vulnerability and

reality of international immigrants.

An important limitation to be highlighted is the quality of the jobs

oered to immigrants and refugees is not the best, which can generate

a lot of frustration and disappointment on the part of this community,

combined with the fact that the language is dicult and for the revalida-

tion of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees graduation according to

Brazilian legislation.

Universities in Dourados have not yet developed a system to wel-

come international immigrants to higher education, either through the

exemption of fees for the recognition of diplomas, or through the recog-

nition of specic vacancies. As in other parts of the country.

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