São Paulo’s City Hall launched the 1st Municipal Immigrant Policy Plan for the city of São Paulo last Tuesday (11th). The launching ceremony happened in a virtual way, with transmission through social networks, and was attended by the Secretary of Human Rights and Citizenship (SMDHC), Claudia Carletto, of the Secretary of International Relations, Luiz Alvaro Salles Aguiar de Menezes, of the Assistant Secretary for Economic Development and Labor, Ana Carolina Lafemina, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Brazil, José Egas, and the Head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Office in São Paulo, Guilherme Otero.

During the opening ceremony, UNHCR representative José Egas commented that the Municipal Immigrant Policy Plan of the city of São Paulo is an unprecedented action in Brazil. "This is a perfect example of good practices in municipal management, because it allows the policies to be implemented in the areas of: culture, social assistance, health, access to work, income generation, housing and education to dialogue with the reality of refugees and immigrants," said Egas. "São Paulo takes another important step in consolidating policies for immigrants. The Plan has a very comprehensive view of the reality and demands of migrant people living in the municipality," said the Head of the IOM Office in São Paulo, Guilherme Otero. For Secretary Claudia Carletto, the Plan is the result of a collaborative work for the capital’s migrant population inclusion: "we have a public policy built in a collective, democratic, plural, intersectoral, intersecretarial way here in the city of São Paulo", emphasized the Secretary.

Then, on the table about the importance of the Municipal Plan for Immigrants Policies, the debaters highlighted the social participation in the document elaboration process, the actions of protection and the local migratory governance. The debate was attended by the Coordinator of Policies for Immigrants and Promotion of Decent Work (CPMigTD), Vinicius Duque, the Head of the UNHCR Office in São Paulo, Maria Beatriz Nogueira, the President of the NGO "Africa of the Heart" and representative of the Municipal Council of Immigrants, Jean Katumba, with mediation by CPMigTD Advisor, Bryan Sempertegui Rodas. "This is part of the recognition of the immigrant as a subject of rights and also the recognition that there are many obstacles and challenges in this process of local integration. If it weren't for this, we wouldn't have a Municipal Plan here with 80 actions", said the coordinator Vinicius Duque. The representative of the Municipal Council of Immigrants, Jean Katumba, declared that "this Plan is very important to seek the immigrants’ integration protagonism, to guarantee their rights and duties and to show that immigrants also need representation in political spaces. "The Plan tries not only to institutionalize the policies that have been created, but to anticipate the future needs of the migrant and refugee population who come to the city of São Paulo.

The presentation of the Municipal Immigrant Policy Plan was made by Luciana Vázquez, CPMigTD's Advisor. The virtual ceremony followed with the last axis of debate on the dimensions of the Plan, which included the participation of CPMigTD Advisor, Ana León, Director-Founder of the Hallyu Cultural Center and representative of the Municipal Council of Immigrants, Yoo Na Kim and the Project Coordinator of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Brasilia, Isadora Steffens.

The city of São Paulo is home to over 360,000 immigrants of 198 nationalities. Initiatives such as the Centro de Referência e Atendimento para Imigrantes (CRAI) and the Open Doors program were designed to welcome the immigrant population to the capital. In addition, São Paulo has the Municipal Council of Immigrants, a consultative body composed of immigrants and municipal government, linked to the Municipal Secretariat of Human Rights and Citizenship, which participates in the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of measures implemented for the immigrant community in the municipality. "The Municipal Plan of Policies for Immigrants is an important advancement in the construction of a migration governance in the City Hall of São Paulo, which has an ongoing dialogue with the immigrant population in order to provide public policies for the promotion and guarantee of social rights and legitimization of an immigrant citizenship in the City Hall," declared Secretary Luiz Alvaro.

About the Plan

The 1st Municipal Immigrant Policy Plan is an instrument for planning municipal public administration actions for the immigrant population in the city of São Paulo for the next four years. The preparation of the document was conducted by the Municipal Council of Immigrants, with technical support from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The resolutions of the 2nd Municipal Immigrant Policy Conference, held in November 2019, were the basis for the preparation of the Plan. The conference was attended by 800 immigrants, who indicated the issues addressed in the document. In this way, the Municipal Plan for Immigrants reinforces the vocation of São Paulo to welcome people from other countries, fostering inclusion and diversity in the territory.