The Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at Unicamp is hosting the seminar “International and Indigenous Migration Processes in Brazil: Challenges for Public Policies” this Wednesday and Thursday (the 5th and 6th). The event is organized by the Margens e Veredas research project, from the University's Postgraduate Program in Public Health, in partnership with the Center for Reference to Immigrants, Refugees and Stateless Persons (Scrira), of the Municipality of Campinas, and with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The meeting brings together researchers, public administrators, international organizations, professionals from the fields of health, education and social assistance, as well as representatives of migrant and indigenous communities. The objective is to strengthen the dialogue between the University and the public authorities to improve policies aimed at populations in situations of mobility.
The director of FCM, Erich Vinicius de Paula, believes that hosting initiatives like this reinforces the University's commitment to one of the main contemporary challenges. "A meeting like this can generate concrete impacts on the development of policies and the strengthening of the University's actions aimed at the migrant population," he says.
From the Department of Public Health at FCM, sociologist Rafael Afonso da Silva highlighted that the meeting represents a milestone for Campinas by creating a training space aimed at professionals who work directly with migrant populations. According to him, the municipality is home to significant communities of Haitians, Venezuelans, and indigenous people of the Warao tribe, also from Venezuela, which requires public policies that are more sensitive to the cultural, social, and linguistic specificities of these groups.
“It is necessary to recognize these presences and adapt public policies to the specific needs of these communities. Often, traditional service models fail to encompass this diversity,” says Silva. He also emphasizes that, although the seminar takes the reality of Campinas as its starting point, the discussions engage with a global phenomenon.
According to the professor, the University plays a strategic role in bringing academic production closer to the demands of society. "The University needs to fulfill its outreach function, strengthen its connection with communities, and contribute to giving visibility to the challenges faced by migrant populations," he argues.
Construction
As a member of the organizing committee, Professor Daniele Sacardo explains that the main goal of the seminar is to strengthen an intersectoral network to improve services for migrant and indigenous communities, initially in Campinas and the surrounding region. “The participation of the communities themselves is essential for building more effective public policies. We are not just talking about numbers, but about people in situations of extreme vulnerability, who face linguistic, cultural, and social barriers. We need to learn from these communities to produce more humane and respectful public policies,” she emphasizes, also reinforcing Unicamp's institutional commitment to the topic through support for research and outreach projects dedicated to migration and the promotion of human rights.
Representing the Immigrant, Refugee, and Stateless Person Reference Center of the Campinas City Hall, social worker Flávio Rodrigo says he hopes the meeting will contribute to the creation of a permanent training program for workers who assist the migrant population. “Campinas has consolidated itself, in recent decades, as an important center for welcoming national and international migrants. Currently, it is estimated that around 10 immigrants, refugees, and stateless persons live in the municipality, including Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, and Colombians,” informs Rodrigo.
The social worker also points out that the Reference Center will celebrate ten years of operation in 2026, advocating for public policies that prioritize the dignity of people before any migratory classification. “In the field of human rights, we work first with people. In the case of indigenous peoples, it is necessary to understand that national borders do not always correspond to the ways in which these peoples understand their own territories and their social relations.”
kaingang
Luiz Carlos Batarse is the district coordinator of Indigenous Health at the Indigenous Health Secretariat (Sesai) of the Ministry of Health and belongs to the Kaingang people, who inhabit the states of São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul. “This event broadens the debate on indigenous health and other issues affecting these populations, both in Brazil and internationally. Unicamp's role in giving visibility to topics that often remain restricted to indigenous territories lends relevance to these issues and strengthens the dialogue between academia, public authorities, and indigenous peoples,” he stated.
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