Migration Research Group Director Patrícia Nabuco Martuscelli has been co-leading the project together with Dr Svetlana Ruseishivili (Federal University of Sao Carlos, Brazil) and Dr Natalia Cintra (University of Southampton, which specifically examines the use of these visas in Brazil. Focusing on South-South migration, the study moves away from the literature's frequent focus on humanitarian visas in the Global North, identifies key gaps between theory and practice and proposes policy recommendations.
The research found that the Brazilian humanitarian visa policy is often applied in an ad hoc manner, and their usage is frequently driven by the political will of the Brazilian government.
The report also presented a number of policy recommendations, to strengthen coherence, predictability and equity. These included creating opportunities for direct participation in the policy process for those most impacted, increasing resource for the processing of visa applications, and better training on international protection themes for consular agents and others key stakeholders.
The project, funded by UKRI’s International Science Partnerships Fund, has produced its findings in English and Portuguese, with a Portuguese report launch to be held online on 6 May.
You can read the report, and an executive summary, in English here.