Brazil

In 2022, Brazil hosted 562,589 refugees, asylum-seekers, stateless persons and other persons needing international protection, most of them coming from Venezuela, Haiti and Cuba.

UNHCR supports authorities in further expanding the progressive refugee public policies in place to ensure refugees’ effective access to rights and services. We work to promote their self-reliance and socio-economic inclusion and integration through their insertion into national programs. 

Brazil has always played a pioneering and leading role in the international protection of refugees. It was the first country in the Southern Cone to ratify the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1960. Refugees enjoy the protection of the Brazilian Government and can, therefore, obtain documents, work, study and exercise the same rights as any foreign citizen with regular status in the country.

UNHCR is represented by the head office in Brasilia and field offices in São Paulo, Manaus, Boa Vista Belém and Pacaraima. We work in cooperation with CONARE and in coordination with federal, state and municipal governments, as well as other government agencies, civil society organizations, the private sector and academia.