Most of the services provided at the physical office are for internal migrants, Brazilians, usually from the North and Northeast, while the number of foreigners is increasing.
The Scalabrinian presence in Goiânia has existed since the late 1980s, but it was in 2000 that the Pastoral do Migrante opened an office in the city's bus station to assist the migrant population in vulnerable situations. The aim is to welcome them, listen to them, give them guidance and help them with their most basic needs, such as providing them with clothes, food, financial help to return to their places of origin and even medical treatment.
The team on site is made up of eight volunteers who alternate during the afternoon, from 2pm to 6pm, among religious and lay people who dedicate themselves to helping others. The current pastoral director is Sister Glória Dal Pozzo, a missionary of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo - Scalabrinians (MSCS).
In addition to the Congregation of the Scalabrinian Sisters, the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Montreal and the Congregation of the Vincentian Sisters also work together.
Spirituality
Once a month, the people involved with the Migrant Pastoral and those who pass by the Goiânia bus station are invited to attend Holy Mass presided over by the auxiliary bishop of Goiânia, Dom Moacir Silva Arantes. According to the director of the pastoral, it's a time when those passing through the bus station can find a place of religiosity.
Advocacy
The pastoral organizes a monthly meeting with the Interreligious Group, where they discuss the situation of migrants in the region. It is also part of the Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons in Goiás, which aims to contribute to the development of preventive actions,
On International Human Rights Day, the pastoral director, Scalabrinian Sister Glória Dal Pozzo, received a tribute from the Goiânia City Council to people who have distinguished themselves in their work and actions in the defense of Human, Social, Political and Citizenship Rights. The town hall of Aparecida de Goiânia certified her with an Honor to Merit, along with other representatives of entities that contribute to the defense of human rights.
New flows served
In addition to the influx of internal migrants that the pastoral ministry serves through its office at the bus station - around 700 a year - the influx of foreigners has recently increased. Most of those coming from abroad are Haitians and Venezuelans looking for new ways of life in the city.
Angelica Maria Armas Gil, 33, is one of the Venezuelan migrants assisted by the Pastoral do Migrante in Goiânia. She began her journey through Brazil four years ago, deciding to migrate with the help of networks of friends who were already in the country and could help her. She passed through Boa Vista - RR, Alter do Chão - PA, a town where she was robbed and lost her passport, and then Brasília - DF and then Goiânia - GO. In the country's capital, she gave birth to her son Jackson Alejandro, and in Goiânia she was forced to go to one of the city's shelters for homeless people, because due to her lack of documents and the lack of places in the city's public crèches, she could no longer work as a juggler - her old occupation.
The Venezuelan migrant reports that life in the municipality's shelters is difficult for a migrant: in addition to the constant fights and threats between the residents, which forces her to always be on the lookout for her and her son's integrity, she also says that "some [public, municipality] employees feel they have the power to humiliate people", and cases of discrimination occur frequently. The lack of security and neglect afflict her. The pastoral is currently helping her to rent a small room elsewhere in Goiânia.
Risks in shelters
Sr. Glória denounces the fact that the migrants who arrive at the houses of welcome in Goiânia always find very difficult situations, conflicts and a lack of preparation for dealing with foreigners. In May 2019, two men were killed in the Campinas Shelter, in the central sector of the capital of Goiás, one of whom was 25-year-old African migrant Mohamed Alie Jalloh.
According to the pastoral director, a long-held dream is to create a specific shelter for migrants and refugees in the region, so that the most complex cases can be closely monitored by specialized teams.
Despite the risks, Angelica says that other civil servants have helped her by giving her their phones to talk to her family in Venezuela, a service that is not officially offered by the city's shelters but is common in other shelters around the world that are specifically for migrants.
Challenges and Brazilians' perception of migration
Angelica has noticed that in the last year the rejection of migrants in the country has increased: "In the first few years I didn't see [xenophobia] so much, but now I understand that when you're a tourist, it's fine. But if you come to live, everything changes". According to her, media reports showing migrants committing crimes can be misinterpreted by Brazilians, generalizing the link between crime and migration.
Among the challenges, she says that the fact that Brazil is the only country on the continent to speak Portuguese makes it very difficult for foreign migrants to adapt. Although some groups offer free language classes for migrants in the city, the language issue remains one of the biggest difficulties when looking for "better quality" jobs, or dealing with bureaucratic processes, for example.
The Orthodox Church and the city council of Aparecida de Goiânia are building a crèche in the municipality of Greater Goiânia, which will be especially aimed at the children of migrants and people in vulnerable situations in the city. The project was born out of the need of groups of Haitian migrants who were suffering because of the lack of places in local nurseries and had to leave their children so that they could work. It is estimated that there are more than 300 Haitian families in the Expansul neighborhood and the inauguration is scheduled for April 2020.
Find out how to help
The Pastoral dos Migrantes de Goiânia serves internal and foreign migrants in the capital of Goiás who are looking for work and other opportunities. Hiring a migrant or refugee is facilitated through the platform Companies with refugees, an initiative of Rede Brasil, the UN Global Compact and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
To contact the Pastoral for more information or to help directly, go to:
Pastoral dos Migrantes de Goiânia website / (62) 4018-1606/99635-1212
Text by Igor B. Cunha
CSEM Communication
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