Palestinian Brazilian

Palestinian Brazilians (Portuguese: Palestino-brasileiro) (Arabic: فلسطينيو البرازيل‎) are Brazilian people with Palestinian ancestry, or Palestinian-born immigrants in Brazil.

Palestinian Brazilian
Palestino-brasileiro
فلسطينيو البرازيل
Total population
50,000[1]
Regions with significant populations
Rio Grande do Sul, Aracaju, São Paulo, Curitiba
Languages
Palestinian Arabic, Portuguese
Religion
Roman Catholicism and Islam
Related ethnic groups
Other Brazilian and Palestinian people
White Brazilians, specially other Arab Brazilians

The group that headed to Rio Grande do Sul is distributed throughout six cities. Sapucaia do Sul, Pelotas, Rio Grande, Chuí, Santa Maria, Venâncio Aires and Porto Alegre (the state capital) are municipalities that are already home to Palestinian communities.

Sapucaia do Sul is home to the head offices of the Arab Palestinian Society of the Greater Porto Alegre, one of the organisations closely following the reception and integration of the refugees.[2]

Others settled in the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest in the nation.[3]

Palestinian refugees in Brazil
Greater Porto Alegre received many Palestinian refugees

After spending over four years languishing in a refugee camp in the Jordanian desert, 100 Palestinian refugees from Iraq will finally be heading to their new home - Brazil. A statement by the UNHCR, said the group, which includes children and the elderly, will start moving from Rweished refugee camp, 60 km from the Jordanian-Iraqi border, to Brazil by September. The first party of 35 Palestinian refugees arrived on 21 September 2007, to Brazil initiating the first phase of the resettlement operation. In the October, two other parties were expected to arrive in Brazil, 117 persons in total. The refugees will be sent to their new country in three batches, with priority given to the elderly and families with children.

According to the plan, an estimated 22 families will be settled in the state of São Paulo, while 18 families will go to Rio Grande do Sul, in the southeast and southern regions of Brazil, said the statement. Unaccompanied elderly refugees will be settled in a home for the elderly where medical treatment is to be provided.[4]

Assistance for 24 months

All will receive rented accommodation, furniture and material assistance for up to 24 months. Employment profiles are being analysed to ensure job opportunities for all, while a network of volunteers and local communities is being established to provide moral support during their integration. Children will attend classes in Portuguese, before being enrolled in Brazilian schools. The group is currently receiving training by a team of humanitarian professionals from Brazil on Brazilian culture and is being given Portuguese lessons.[5]

Humanitarian solution

Brazil's offer will provide a humanitarian solution for Palestinians who have been in the Jordanian camp since 2003. The UNHCR office in Brazil will also help the new arrivals better integrate into the Brazilian community by hiring bilingual (Arabic-Portuguese) staff who will be trained in Palestinian culture. With the departure of the Palestinian refugees, only a handful of Iraqi families will be left facing an uncertain future.[6]

See also

References
  1. "Governo do Estado de São Paulo - Memorial do Imigrante". web.archive.org. 2009-03-23. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-01-09. Retrieved 2008-05-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Informed Comment: Escobar on Palestinian Refugees in Brazil
  4. Arrival of a group of Palestinian refugees to Brazil | None | Embassy of Brazil in London Archived 2008-11-18 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Palestinian refugees stranded in deadly Iraq; Brazil comes to the rescue - International Middle East Media Center - IMEMC Archived 2008-07-05 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ei: Palestinian refugees from Iraq heading to Brazil
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