Haitian immigration in Brazil: humanitarian subject and family reunification

Abstract

This paper analyzes the legal requests for family reunification filed by Haitian nationals residing in Brazil. This phenomenon reveals a new phase in the dynamics of this migration, accompanying the reconfiguration of bilateral relations between the two countries. If, at the beginning of the flow, the possibilities for migratory regularization reflected the role played by Brazil in MINUSTAH, today the bureaucratic obstacles imposed on this movement demonstrate the intensification of the migratory crisis at the destination, expressed especially in the regulations and constraints established by the Brazilian state. In this context, the country takes on another meaning for the Haitian migrations: from buffer country to human rights frontier country. Therefore, exploring the disputes and contradictions that mark this process constitutes the central question of this investigation.

Keywords:
migration; Haitian migration; humanitarian visa; family reunification