Letter calls on São Paulo municipal candidates to commit to migration policy
Organizations ask the election hopefuls to make a commitment to the migration and asylum agenda
Thirty-six organizations published a letter on Tuesday, September 29, addressed to the candidates for the São Paulo municipal government and legislature calling for more attention to issues involving migrants, with a focus on guaranteeing rights in the city.
The document signed by the organizations lists at least three essential approaches for addressing the topic in these elections: the power of civil society mobilization, dissemination of the position of each candidate and clarity for voters.
The importance of the topic can be seen from the data on migrants in the São Paulo state capital. The city is home to 360,000 such residents of 197 different nationalities.
In addition to the electoral debate, the organizations, among them the Missão Paz, ask that the elected candidates observe the 1st Municipal Plan on Policies for Immigrants, announced in August, and reject any expression of hatred in opposition to the Plan.
The city of São Paulo is an important location for the topic, seeing that it was the first municipality – and for a long time the only one – to have a specific policy for migrants.
In the letter, the organizations also note that in the 2018 elections, candidates for the Senate and for Federal and State Representative were asked to commit to the protection of people who make Brazil their home.
