Recently, there are a few countries that have come to earn the title as a rising superpower. Brazil, the largest country in South America, is one of these particular countries. As its economic standing grows, government projects have been expanding in terms of spending and policy focal points. Particularly, Brazil has begun to implement measures in order to better serve the stateless people in the county as a whole. Over the past year, Brazil has been pushing efforts to create an exemplary system to be the model for an asylum for displaced people, especially those of South America (Maloney).
Essentially, Brazil is a powerhouse (due to its new stature on the world stage) acting as the pioneer for the first major concentrated relief efforts of this decade in order to aid stateless people in South America (UN). Using the principle of “leading by example,” Brazil is shedding light on the grounds of injustice portrayed by the stateless peoples that have fled to the country, attempting to introduce new bills and policies to accommodate those who have fallen victim to statelessness (UNHCR). By placing this pressure on other countries in the region to follow in the path of Brazilian refugee policy, Brazil hopes to be a benefactor in supporting the movement to “invite” refugees to the region, basically creating a known safe haven to those who are without citizenship. With refugees streaming into Brazil form all over the world (mainly from Asia, the Caribbean, South America, and Africa), the country is aiming to be a tool of resolution in this meticulous issue of statelessness in general (Godinho).
The particular bill (unnamed and still in the process of being passed), introduced earlier this year, has signified Brazil’s further initiative to begin implementing greater relief efforts in order to supply the refugees with more rights in Brazil (UNHCR). After all, a stateless person is without any basic form of human rights, leaving them without any form of support. This comes after and in addition to Brazil signing The Brasilia Declaration, a pledge from Latin American countries to better provide for and protect refugees, a document that, “…is a landmark declaration that I hope will result not only in better protection for refugees and other displaced people across the Americas, but also accelerate global efforts to improve the situation of displaced people and end the scourge of statelessness,” according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres (UN). So, the Brazilian government’s ultimate goal lies with the hope that other countries, particularly those neighboring it in South America, will follow suit in its journey to provide stateless people from across the world with more rights within its borders such as issuing identification cards to help them to better access the country’s employment and immigrant integration resources (UNHCR).
This bill would also help put to work the UN Convention of the Reduction of Statelessness of 1961 that lays out the foundation of supporting refugees. All in all, this most recent bill would act as the culmination on Brazil’s part to create a true area of refuge for the world’s stateless people (Maloney). The holes in the bridge between nationality and citizenship would begin to dissipate and Brazil would be recognized for its philanthropic efforts, boosting its status as a global superpower in the realm of humanitarian aid (UN). One of the world’s growing superpowers would have even more of a solid structure under its belt to deal with sheltering stateless people, adding to some of the most, “advanced refugee legislation in the world,” as stated by Guterres (Godinho). Refugees often suffer from not being welcomed by their new society, yet Brazil is making efforts to subsequently fix this problem by readily giving these displace people access to such things like education and the housing market (News Stories). Not only is Brazil taking the initiative to create a habitat conducive to the needs of the refugees, it is creating an example of an area that is surprisingly being successful in integrating foreigners into their culture, leaning further to the drawn out process of eliminating racism (UN). I’m beginning to believe that Brazil is attempting to effectively kill “two birds with one stone,” as the common anecdote goes. The first proverbial bird is, that as a growing superpower, producing a multi-faceted image that displays confidence in international and domestic policy is essential in regards to gaining more notification on a global scale. Brazil is eager to be a country that is at the forefront of global decision making/thought, principally, a country that produces functioning policies from the depths of its government’s buildings with input from the public. In general, a nation that produces legislation which turn into sought after models for the rest of the world. Is the drafting of such legislation in a relatively short period of time the equivalent of a Brazilian cry for attention in the humanitarian realm or just a resolute effort to genuinely aid those who are displaced? Is Brazil being a bit ostentatious on the global stage or simply being innovative with its recent focus on refugees?
The second “bird,” I believe, concerns the economy of Brazil. If Brazil intends to be included in the circle of counties that already hold some of the decisive cards of influence, an extensive economy is essential to establish a well-regarded Brazilian presence. By opening up the nations borders to all types of displaced peoples in search of protection, Brazil is fostering its own economy. Through the boosting of population numbers, however small they may be at the present time (especially in the larger cities where refugee programs are offered), Brazil can slowly integrate new workers into the nation’s work force (News Stories). Workers greatly aid in developing the economy of a country, so Brazil can in turn create a more extensive economic system in order to have more of a presence in the global economy. Overall, Brazil has so far succeed in integrating an effective humanitarian effort with an attempt to gain more authority as a rising superpower. As a rising industrialized nation, this is imperative to surge to the top as soon as possible to establish that the nation is a force to be dealt with on a global scale.
Brazil is subtly increasing its superpower standing through the implementation of relief efforts for the world’s stateless people. This effort on Brazil’s part, the primary intention being for humanitarian reasons, is nonetheless starting to demonstrate effectiveness on numerous levels, exposing underlying purposes. Legislation for theses displaced peoples has largely hinted at Brazil’s determination to become one of the world’s more influential countries. Keeping power as a forefront thought, Brazil has shrewdly and effectively begun to use these displaced people as a piece of the leverage needed to fully ascend to the top of the mountain that is the global stage.
Works Cited:
Godinho, Luiz Fernando. "UNHCR - Brazil to Step up Efforts to Integrate Refugees; Reaffirms Support for UNHCR." UNHCR Welcome. The UN Refugee Agency, 8 Aug. 2011. Web. 06 Sept. 2011.
Moloney, Anastasia. "Brazil Bill Gives Hope to Latin America’s Stateless - UNHCR - AlertNet." Thomson Reuters Foundation Homepage - Trust.org. Thomson Reuters Foundation Service, 23 Aug. 2011. Web. 06 Sept. 2011.
News Stories. "UNHCR - Q&A: Brazil's Justice Minister Committed to Helping the Displaced and Stateless." UNHCR Welcome. The UN Refugee Agency, 9 Nov. 2010. Web. 06 Sept. 2011.
“UN Lauds Latin America’s Declaration on Refugee Protection." Welcome to the United Nations: It's Your World. United Nations, 12 Nov. 2010. Web. 06 Sept. 2011.
“UNHCR - Brazil." UNHCR Welcome. The UN Refugee Agency. Web. 06 Sept. 2011.
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteThat's a fascinating point! So, if I understand you correctly, it is through responding to the problem of statelessness (by working hard to integrate refugees) that Brazil is 'proving' itself as a rising power both regionally and globally? Fixing statelessness is a way to be a state? Novel and thought-provoking!
I think we could easily extend your analysis further if we looked at which states really get down 'in the trenches' of international challenges like refugee flows. For example, let's look at who sends troops to UN peacekeeping operations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_peacekeeping#Participation and http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/statistics/
Do we see a pattern here? Can we make the same kind of analysis for these countries as you have for Brazil?
From Hannah, who was unable to post this because of technical difficulties:
ReplyDeleteCourtney,
I think your comments about the influx of foreigners and "stateless" people into Brazil are quite interesting. However, I want to bring up a point about the social culture in Brazil that could present a challenge to Brazil’s rise as a superpower.
The Brazilian culture is multi-faceted. There are race and class distinctions that keep certain people at the bottom of the social strata and others at the top. In Brazil, to name a few different ethnic and racial groups, there are “Whites,” “Portuguese,” “Brazilians,” “mulattoes,” and “Africans.” Race often correlates to class, with whites at the top and nonwhites at the bottom.
The increase of foreigners and stateless people, in my opinion, could result in a couple of major issues. The foreigners may integrate into society, creating a class higher than that of “nonwhites,” and make the position of the “nonwhites,” originally from Brazil, even worse. Furthermore, these foreigners could be pushed to the bottom of the social sphere, causing the standard of living situations and population health to decrease even more. The addition of an even lower social class could actually pull Brazil away from superpower status.
Although Brazil’s inclusion of foreigners and refugees could indeed help their political and economic standing, it is also important to look at the potential changes in culture, and the danger that these changes hold.
www.ucis.pitt.edu/clas/brazil_proj/lessons/soc/race/race_class.pdf
My findings have brought me to conclude, so far, that fixing the problem of statelessness could further serve to unify Brazil. This specifically oriented issue is being used to try and fortify Brazil through a prevalent public issue. The country is presenting itself in a way to show that it can effectively cary out matters of state and of humanitarian need, a balancing act that countries have problems achieving. Just as the United States is said to be the world's superhero, Brazil in some ways is trying to emulate an already declared superpower. "Proving" itself as a rising superpower in the most subtle ways, like addressing the issue of statelessness, enables Brazil to "climb to the top" in a steady manner.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Hannah did bring up a very good point regarding cultural aspects. Brazil is a melting pot of many nationalities. The discrepancies between the various social classes are more apparent there in comparison to the United States. For example, the news has continued to showcase the intense violence (gang/drug wars) within Brazilian ghettos, favelas. This is not good for Brazil in light of the fact that it is trying to "clean up" its image for the highly anticipated World Cup of 2014. And since the immigrant integration systems aren't solid just yet, whose to say that these once stateless people will not end up there, in an even worse economic situation? So, Brazil is still a country at the base of the construction stages of a superpower. Brazil needs to tread on careful ground; the government doesn't want to wind up with even more extreme social classes due to cultural clashes.
In regards to Prof. Craig's comments UN peacekeeping operations:
The basis is that UN Charter requires all member nations to contribute troops to the overall peacekeeping force of the Security Council. This being said, most counties who give the bulk of the peacekeeping personnel are developing nations which make a small profit for supplying more people for the peacekeeping operations. Brazil is not within the top ten UN countries that contributes the most troops, but it is easily fits within the top fifteen and is the biggest contributor in the Americas. This ranking is fairly high seeing that there are 114 countries giving UN troops.
Even though the top nations providing troops are not all rising superpowers, they are eager to make a name for themselves. As developing countries, they seek a way to build up individual standing by expanding their armies and receiving substantial reimbursements (for the great number of troops they provide). Overall, I believe the pattern is that each of the nations greatly contributing UN peacekeeping troops is trying to declare that it can successfully defend for itself, politically and militarily. Whether its opening borders to refugees or sending troops to a violence stricken zone, these acts are in a way boosting the individual status of these nations.
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Brazil_seeks_firmer_grip_on_favelas_999.html