Growing number of Haitians leaving Brazil during recession

Global Business

Not long ago, Brazil was a magnet for immigrants from Haiti looking to enjoy the fruits of a booming economy.

But Brazil’s economic crisis is now triggering an exodus for those workers caught in a currency trap.

CCTV America’s Paulo Cabral reports from São Paulo.

Brazil adopted an open door policy for Haitian immigrants, granting humanitarian visas for pretty much all who wanted to move there. It was a win-win scenario – Haitians needed a safe place to live and Brazil needed people to work.

But then recession hit Brazil. The doors are still wide open for Haitians, but the job market is not.

There were around 45,000 Haitians living in Brazil. But in the first quarter of this year, more than 3000 Haitians left Brazil. That’s more than double the number that left the country during the same period last year, according to Brazilian Federal Police.

Father Paulo Parisi, a priest responsible for the Catholic mission that organizes meetings between migrants and companies looking for workers, admits that job offers have fallen dramatically over the past year, and that lots of Haitians are moving to Chile and America.