Syrian Refugees on a century old road to São Paulo, we meet Abdul Jarour (Candidate State Council-PSB)
Abdul was born in Aleppo, Syria, the last century we have seen a lot of Syrians fleeing for different reasons to Brazil, even an ex-Syrian dictator was killed in Brazil. The two countries are intertwinged, was it to escape the Ottomans, or the fight the French, Syrians were always active in politics in Brazil. In São Paulo there is the Club of Homs, a community building, in the middle of the famous Avenida Paulista. Downtown you have the Syrian ’25 de Março shopping street’ where ‘mascates’ (streetvendors) would buy there goods and bring them as far a Manaus or Asuncíon. These ancient roads are still carved in the social geography of Brazil. Where Abdul is the first generation Syrian Refugee presenting himself for the State Council, the explorers of the Amazon already found Syrian mascates there. Now he wants to represent the refugees and migrants of São Paulo hundred fifty years later, although these can’t vote for him, this means he has to talk to a broader segment of the population.
Abdul Jarour is 32 years old. Currently, studying Law, the fifth of seven children and naturalized Brazilian. He arrived in Brazil in February 2014, alone, as a war refugee, and settled in São Paulo, where he lives presently. When he managed to leave Syria and went to Lebanon, he thoughted about going to Australia or Canada. However, he couldn’t and, when he learned that Brazil was granting a ‘humanitarian visa’s’ to the Syrians, he didn’t hesitate. His family has spread over seven countries, he is alone in Latin America. In 2019, he managed to rescue his mother and his younger sister from the war, but in 2020, his mother passed away as a victim of Covid-19 in Brazil.
“When I arrived, honestly, I felt quite lost. I felt like I had entered a time machine and arrived in the future. I was impressed with this city and it’s pace. Everything was so accelerated, the permanent movement. A fusion of thoughts and feelings, from the survival instinct that brought me to the fear of the unknown, the deep sadness and longing for my family, friends, buried dreams. I was all present, very much alive in my memory. Faith in God and the courage to move on, just because I had nowhere else to go, kept me on my way.” — Abdul Jarour
The Portuguese language is very different from Arabic, they are completely different languages. He had to find a way to learn it. he looked for free Portuguese language teaching courses, but when he arrived here there were still few offers, and it took a year to wait in the registration institutions. The way out, for him, was to do his best to learn on the street, with the people he met and made friends. he went through very difficult situations. Nowadays, he still changes some words and does’t understand others. But he can make himself understood. Brazilians say that he communicate’s well, although his Portuguese is not perfect. Anyway, luckily, the doors were open, and still they are opening for him. He tried to make an effort to read, listen to music, watch news and movies in Portuguese, which helped a lot. And, above all, he has always invested in contact with native people. he looked for support from some institutions, among which he can highlight Cáritas and Missão Paz as importante supporters in those early days here.
All we need when arriving to the destination countries is to be respected as citizens and be recognized as people with rights and duties.
“My journey in the migratory movement is marked by an action focused on raising awareness of Brazilian society to the cause in various spaces, in the mainstream media, universities, schools and civil society organizations.” — Abdul Jarour
He is a founding member of the first Non-Governmental Organization created and managed by migrants and refugees, based in São Paulo, where I served as vice president and director of Projects, with emphasis on coordinating the Cup for Refugees and Immigrants, considered the biggest sport event in the world, that promotes the integration of this community. In the political sphere, I collaborated directly in the composition of the State Council for the Defense of Human Rights of São Paulo — CONDEPE, responding for the coordination of the Commission on Human Rights, Migrants and for the fight against Xenophobia.
It is fundamental for our community, the support of the State and society. We need to be accepted and included in discussions for the construction of public policies that will promote dignity and social integration. Only then we will have a truly and fair welcoming society. And that’s why he is making available his name to PSB.
His concern to transform people´s lives, who have been made invisible, populations in situations of great social and economic vulnerability, really brought him to the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), where I am the national coordinator of the Center for Refugees, Immigrants and Stateless Persons.
Because I do believe in politics and its institutions as one of the main ways to promote and guarantee a dignified life for all people, especially minorities, my candidacy for state deputy is committed to integration for all. This is another step in which I reaffirm my commitment to my community, having among my banners the fight for Justice and Citizenship, Education, Culture and Sport, Work and Income and Entrepreneurship
Within his condition, in the scope of action today, he seeks to open fronts for a protagonist performance, with legitimacy of speech. Currently, he’s responsible for the National Coordination of the Core Base of Refugees, Immigrants and Stateless Persons of the Brazilian Socialist Party (MPS/PSB). Assuming a partisan position, in my case, is a natural consequence of a coherent path, with the firm purpose of expanding the participation of refugees and migrants in Brazilian political life. He believes in listening and the need for dialogue between different sectors and governments for progress. He bet’s on cooperation among the various sectors that a society is made up. As a survivor of the horrors generated by the war, he defends the banner of peace, the right to exist, life with dignity and the celebration of diversity through integration and promotion of interculturality in societies.
“Change pain into something good is half way of those who seek to give meaning to their lives. And I have been trying to understand obstacles as opportunities for learning and development. In this journey, I have been finding my place in the world and that’s why my voice is crossing borders. Along with the physical suitcase, we also bring other luggage that comes from our roots, our culture, our values. From that, imagine the size of the challenge. In addition to the language, there is the adaptation to a new culture, from the attitude in the form of treatment in the relationships to the daily habits to be reviewed. Easterners and Westerners have very different understandings about many things. It was quite tiring to unravel the bureaucratic issues for regularization and the right to exercise full citizenship. The documentary issue, together with the urgent need to learn the native language of the host country, is a priority issue. Without these two achievements, it is impossible to get a formal job, consequently there is a barrier to renting a property, among others. In addition, there is the psycho-emotional issue. Maintaining mental health is one of the great challenges faced by people in refugee situations.”
He usually says that Brazil opens its doors, but still closes many windows. It is a country of continental proportions, young, formed by the immigrant face of several peoples, besides its original people. It is a promising land that has everything to continue developing in an inclusive way, celebrating diversity. Since 2017, we have the Migration Law that brings a human approach to refugee and migration issues. It is exemplary. But in practice, it is still not working. So, he sees that there is a movement of the safety net to move forward, but a lot of dialogue and work is still needed to achieve a condition of real dignity. If he can point out something, I would like to point out that from the large-scale Venezuelan migration, Operação Acolhida was created, a specific humanitarian logistical task force to serve this population. In this circuit that serves from the border between Brazil and Venezuela to the interior of the country, hundreds of partners are involved, including United Nations agencies, Federal and municipal governments, international and national institutions with strong representation of civil society. AO is a reference in the world as a welcoming model. And in fact, it is ideal what is expected for reception, I cannot say. But, I recognize that it is a step, within a broader vision. In fact, we are a society learning to deal with differences, and conquering spaces of visibility requires a lot of effort and dedication. The reception itself will only be a practice from the moment we have direct participation in the construction of public policies that benefit us, integrating us not as numbers and cheap labor, but recognizing and valuing our cultures.
We have seen an evolution, from the Statute of Foreigners 1978, validated during the Military Dictatorship, to what we have achieved today, with the Migration Law in 2017 (n. 13,445). However, it is necessary to effectively put into practice what it prescribes. Brazil is a signatory to international treaties. During Dilma Government, we know that there was an opening for reception. Mainly Haitians and Africans looked for Brazil. With the war in Syria, when he found out about the granting of a humanitarian visa, he chose to come here. During Temer Government, Operation Acolhida, the country’s first humanitarian task force was consolidated to deal with the Venezuelan refugee. CONARE massively approved the humanitarian visa for this population, which had never happened before. Venezuelan migration is characterized as the second largest migration in the world and the largest of all time in Latin America. With the current government, we had numerous difficulties, setbacks. Many cases of human rights violations, the closing of borders. Xenophobia has done a lot of damage and still does. On the other hand, the restlessness and movement of civil society institutions present on the agenda, tirelessly, has been seeking to open dialogue fronts for the guarantee and expansion of rights. We still have a lot to do. We need to strengthen local institutions and expand dialogue with state and municipal governments.
“The main challenges that immigrants and refugees face are the lack of State assistance
in any area of their reception, especially the difficulty with language, documentation,
work and housing.” — Abdul Jarour
No, unfortunately the issue of migration and reception of refugees and migrants has not been addressed much by presidential candidates in this year’s elections. A recent report by migramundo pointed out that only 1/3 of the candidates mentioned the topic. I believe that it should be among the priorities of politicians, since Brazil needs to improve reception and take advantage of the socio-economic power that immigrants bring and have always brought to this land.
