Brazilian Migration to Portugal: Trends, Integration and Effects
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Brazilian Migration to Portugal: Trends, Integration and Effects Daniel Madeira Caetano Teixeira Autumn Semester 2019/2020 Abstract Brazil and Portugal are countries that have been connected through centuries. Recent movements to Portugal are increasing and becoming a theme of debate. Throughout the last century, Brazilian immigration to Portugal has been continuously shifting, in variables as numerical expressiveness, level of qualification, type of labor insertion and its levels of feminization have. This article aims to identify the main features of the history between the nations, describe the new migratory wave and analyze how this recent flow of immigration has been positive for the Portuguese economy. Nowadays, Brazilians are the foreigners who invest the most in Portugal, predominantly in the real estate market and in the opening of new ventures. In fact, the expansion of the real estate market and other attractions are attracting a growing number of high-income Brazilians, who are looking for quality of life and security, but who also see the possibility of doing good business. Key words: Brazilians, wave, SEF, colonies, crisis, real estate. Brazilian Migration to Portugal: Trends, Integration and Effects / Daniel Teixeira Introduction Migratory movements, especially in Portugal, are shaped by a multiplicity of factors that must be combined with what happens in several other regions of the world, particularly in those where the Portuguese were present both as colonizers and as emigrants. Portugal's accession to the then European Economic Community (EEC) inaugurated a new stage that meant major changes in both migratory movements and in the country's migratory policies. From 1986 onwards, Portugal became a more politically and economically attractive country for immigrants, especially after the signing of the Schengen Convention by creating a European circulation area and a European citizenship. Until the end of the eighties immigrants in Portugal were almost exclusively nationals of their former colonies. But Portugal's accession to the EEC in 1986 led to increased demand from Portugal for nationals of China, Brazil and Central and Eastern European countries. In the 1990s, Portugal had positive migratory balances, the country began to receive more immigrants than grantees, a situation that continued until 2011. The recent wave of Brazilians it composed by community that comes, not only to work and send remittances to Brazil, as it did in the past. But a population that wants to contribute to Portugal, that wants to work, bring and develop its knowledge, apply its profession here and also invest. In contrast to previous generations, what characterizes the most recent wave is the fact that they are migrants who also arrive for banking, real estate, more qualified tourism opening hotels or hostels, liberal or creative professions. The following paper develops the recent history of foreign migration to Portugal, describing three different movements that led to the present situation regarding this subject, with a focus on the consequences for Brazilian foreign. There will be made an analysis on the recent impact of economical crisis. Finally, it will be made an analysis on the most recent relation between the two countries and a description on the factors, trends and effects of the recent Brazilian wave of migrants to Portugal. Brazilian Migration to Portugal: Trends, Integration and Effects / Daniel Teixeira Recent Migration in Portugal A visible immigrant population with a significant number of immigrants is a recent phenomenon in Portugal. The country has a short experience with significant flows of immigrants. In its brief history of immigration, it is possible to discern three main and distinct phases in migratory movements. Portugal was essentially a country of emigration until the 1960s and recorded a negative migratory balance as a result of the departure of national citizens to Europe and the Portuguese colonies. In fact, until the mid-1970s, the number of foreigners residing in Portugal was approximately thirty thousand and the majority were either Spanish nationals or descendants of Portuguese emigrants (BORREGO, 2015). On April 25, 1974, Rádio Renascença, a Portuguese Catholic broadcaster, transmitted the song Grândola, Vila Morena, by the composer José Afonso. The song was the expected sign for young soldiers of the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) to start the Carnation Revolution, an uprising that overthrew one of the longest dictatorships of the 20th century and was the ignitor for future migration flows (CARRIJO, 2019). The first movements (1974 to 1985) can be attributed to decolonization and the consequent change in the nationality law that brought about the first significant community of immigrants in the country. After the independence of the Portuguese colonies in Africa, approximately half a million Portuguese nationals returned to Portugal. The first immigrant communities with some numerical significance were thus formed in a retroactive manner, communities that, due to the process of family reunification and the formation of new families, registered an uninterrupted growth in the following years. With the entry of Portugal into the European Economic Community (EEC) which, within the framework of the structural cohesion funds, promoted the transfer of large amounts of money to Portugal, a new phase in migratory movements to Portugal began (1986 to 2000), which reflects in its composition the economic growth of the country and the development model that was followed. During this period the country registered a significant growth of immigrants from Brazil, Europe and North America who performed relevant functions for the development of the country in the most qualified segments of the national labor market. Despite the growth the number of immigrants in Portugal remained relatively low until the turn of the millennium. At the time of joining the EEC, Portugal needed both skilled and unskilled labor, due to the poor Portuguese education Brazilian Migration to Portugal: Trends, Integration and Effects / Daniel Teixeira system and the emigration to northern and central European countries of the least skilled Portuguese. In practice, the arrival of Brazilian professionals at the beginning of 1990 was absorbed in several sectors of the economy (dentists, publicists, marketing and IT specialists), extending to other sectors of lower qualification (PADILLA, 2012). In 1999, 190,896 foreigners with legal residence lived in Portugal, which represented less than 2% of the total resident population. In addition, immigrants from third countries resident in Portugal were mostly from Portuguese-speaking countries (76% in 1999 and 77% in 2000). In other words, until 2000 the presence of immigrants in Portugal was relatively weak and their presence could be attributed essentially to two factors: our colonial past and our historical and cultural relations; and the economic growth of the country, which was largely promoted by public investment and the attraction of foreign investment. One can say that the main characteristic of the immigrant population residing in the country until the turn of the millennium was to present a markedly bipolar profile. On the one hand, a population mostly made up of immigrants from the PALOP countries, inserted in the civil construction and public works sector and in personal and domestic services in activities with lower qualifications. On the other hand, a population made up of immigrants from Western Europe and Brazil that when economically active, was preferentially part of the tertiary sector and in highly qualified occupations (BAGANHA, 2009). At the turn of the millennium a third phase in the immigration movements began, which responded to the employment opportunities generated in the civil construction and public works sector and in industries linked to tourism, contributed to the formation of a significant immigrant population in the country and to the diversification of the national origins of immigrants. These recent migratory movements affirmed Portugal as a country of immigration and integrated Portugal into the global migratory system in its dual facet of importer and exporter of labor. Although Portugal is part of the Southern European immigration model, it does have some distinctive features. The Southern European model is characterized by the increasing feminization of migratory flows, for having a labor market segmented by ethnic/racial issues, by gender, by age and by educational level. Other characteristics involve the prevalence of the informal economy, the high growth of the services and construction sector and the great diversity of countries of origin, status and socio- economic level of immigrants. Another particularity is the polarized distribution of immigrants in the labor market, where both highly qualified and less qualified immigrants Brazilian Migration to Portugal: Trends, Integration and Effects / Daniel Teixeira are included. All this indicates that the face of immigration in Portugal has gradually changed compared to the flows of the 1980s and 1990s (SILVA, 2014). Brazilian Immigration and Economic Recession The process of converting Residence Permits into Residence Permits has made it possible to verify the quantitative leap caused by Brazilians. In addition to the titles obtained under the 2001 regularization, they benefited in 2003 from a process only for Brazilians, known as the Lula Agreement. In short, the flow of Brazilians has grown steadily,