Brazil’s justice minister responded on Tuesday to an alleged case of xenophobia between a Portuguese woman and a Brazilian woman and hinted at agreeing to repatriate the Brazilians if “Portugal returns the gold together.”
In a video published by the Brazilian press, Brazilian minister Flavio Dino, during the launch ceremony of the scholarship program, referred to a video that surfaced on social media on Monday showing “a Portuguese woman scolding a Brazilian woman at Lisbon airport.”
In a video filmed at an airport in Portugal, a Portuguese woman can be heard saying, among other xenophobic remarks: “Go to your homeland, they are invading Portugal.”
In response, Minister Flavio Dino said: “Well, if that is so, we have the right to reciprocity, don’t we? Because in 1500 they invaded Brazil.”
“And I even agree that they repatriate all the immigrants who are there, returning with them the gold from Ouro Preto, and then everything will be fine, we will be even,” he added.
Brazilian MP Tulio Gadelha, rapporteur of the International Migration and Refugees Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, also said today that he has asked the Brazilian Foreign Ministry to question the Portuguese Embassy on the case.
In a conversation with the Metropoles portal, Tulio Gadelha said that this case “is a crime that is disrespectful to the nation, culture and Brazilians.”
“This is not the first time this has happened, but every [estas situações] they are disgusting. These repeated incidents of xenophobia must stop. We will closely monitor the investigation into this unfortunate fact,” he said.
According to the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), around 400,000 Brazilian citizens live in Portugal, representing about 40% of the foreign population, with higher incidence in the municipalities of Lisbon, Cascais, Sintra, Porto and Braga.
At the end of 2022, there were 239,744 Brazilians living in the country, which means an increase of about 36% in this community this year alone. Since January, about 153 thousand people have received residence permits.
Speaking to Lusa in October, on the National Day to End Violence Against Women, Brazil’s Minister for Women’s Affairs said the Brazilian government was active, attentive and “supportive of the Brazilian community in Portugal” who are victims of intolerance and violence, especially against women .
“We know that whenever there is a supremacist uprising, anywhere in the world, women are among the most vulnerable social groups and are the first targets of intolerance and violence,” he added.
In the specific case of Portugal, the minister specified, the Brazilian government “acted in support of the Brazilian community in Portugal”, the largest foreign community in the country and the one that has grown the most in recent years.
This work is carried out within the framework of international cooperation agreements, including joint work between Brazilian and Portuguese universities “through the Observatory against Racism and Xenophobia in Portugal.”
During an official visit by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s Minister of Racial Equality Aniel Franco and First Lady Jania da Silva met “with Brazilian women in Portugal and heard reports of an increase in cases of xenophobia,” recalled Sida Gonçalves.
Luse’s statements come after a report by the Brazilian portal UOL in early October, which condemned the rise in xenophobic incidents against Brazilians in Portugal, and included several testimonies from residents of the country.