Every year thousands of our compatriots left Haiti, often risking their lives in search of a better life and Brazil, for many, represents the Eldorado. However, in Brazil for several years, this is the time of disillusionment for many Haitians.

Brazil's economic situation deteriorates, jobs are declining in several Brazilian companies, access to the labor market to foreigners is complicated. Many Haitian migrants are coming to seek employment in construction, a sector which lost 385,000 jobs for 2015 only.

Besides the difficulty in finding employment, our compatriots in competition with Brazilian labor faces hatred, racism and violence of some Brazilians, who are also fighting for the survival of their families and who do not see a good eye, this foreign labor, often illegal, ready to work at any price, even for one meal a day...

According to the Brazilian newspaper Folha, more and more Haitian immigrants raised the possibility of returning to Haiti or from looking for a new homeland. Even with a trade life is difficult, often earning less than 1,000 reais a month (± 260 US dollars) the income of our compatriots is insufficient to live with dignity and send some money to their families in Haiti. Some have lost their jobs and looking for a new in vain, sometimes for over a year... Desperate, it agrees to be exploited to wage conditions often unacceptable and sink a little more each day in misery.

Meanwhile, on November 11, the Brazilian government announced the signing of a law that grants permanent residence to 43.781 Haitian immigrants https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-15744-haiti-politic-brazil-grants-permanent-residency-to-43-781-haitians.html allowing them to obtain a working document required by Brazilian employers to have new job opportunities and to benefit from social assistance programs.

Will this be it sufficient to change the lives of our compatriots in distress ? Nothing is less sure...

S/ HaitiLibre