Number of Haitians Seeking Work in São Paulo Has Doubled

03/12/2015 - 11h24

Suddenly a celebration erupts in a room full of mattresses and suitcases dotted around the floor. This is the reaction following the news that a group of 60 Haitians will receive work record cards, some of whom had been waiting for the documents for nearly 45 days.

This is the first step towards getting a job, and leaving behind the Peace Mission - an institution linked to the Migrants' Pastoral Center - where the daily flow of Haitians has more than doubled since January.

The center, which is located in Glicério, in the center of São Paulo, was home to almost 50 Haitians per night until the end of January. Now, this number oscillates between 110 and 120, and sometimes there are as many as 150. There are at least 30 new "guests" every day.

They spend their days on the patio of the Nossa Senhora da Paz church, where the institution works. On Tuesdays and Thursdays there are meetings with business people looking for workers.

The institution's directors hope now that the process of obtaining the work record card will be made more flexible - in a future agreement with the city government, for example - in order to relieve some of the pressure on the Peace Mission.

The 60 Haitians who received their papers on Tuesday (10) are part of a group of 240 due to be attended this week by the Ministry of Labor, thanks to the efforts of the priest Paolo Parisi, who coordinates the mission.

At least one coach full of immigrants arrives every day in São Paulo from Rio Branco, in Acre state. Many of the Haitians remain in São Paulo, though some go south to try their luck in Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul. Wherever they go, the objective is the same: finding work.

The sudden rise in the flow of immigrants, which had been stable since the end of last year, is down to several factors. One is that the River Acre has burst its banks, meaning that 10,600 people have been forced to seek refuge in government shelters. As a result, the Haitians have been seeking to leave Acre faster.

In addition, the number of Haitians passing through Acre has increased, according to Acre's ex-social development secretary, Antônio Torres, now the state secretary for human rights.

"Today we have 900 Haitians in the shelter", says Torres. Capacity is less than 400. "The flow has never slowed here, and now it has increased even more."

In 2014, the unexpected increase in immigrants to São Paulo lead to tension between the governments of Acre and São Paulo.

Aloísio de Toledo César, São Paulo's justice secretary, aims this year to resume discussions with the governor of Acre in order to establish migration controls. "I'm horrified", he says. "They can't be dumped here like this, they are human beings."

In the Peace Mission, there are concerns not only about the increase in the numbers of Haitians, but also about the imminent fall in the number of companies willing to provide employment. While the number of Haitians being hired remains stable, the number of bosses visiting the Mission fell in February by almost half - from 60 to 33.

In the last month, 166 immigrants were registered for work, a number consistent with the average, but well short of the record of 498, from May last year.

The type of work has also changed. "Before the vast majority went into civil construction", says Parisi. "Now, most of them go into the service industry."

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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	Avener Prado/Folhapress
	The number of Haitians seeking work in São Paulo has doubled