The tactical politics of ‘humanitarian’ immigration: negotiating stasis, enacting mobility

Abstract

Inspired by autonomy of migration and acts of citizenship literatures as frameworks for understanding migration, the paper analyzes the case of Haitian migrants in Brazil. It focuses, on the one hand, on the relational processes of constructing Haitian migrants as ‘humanitarian immigrants’ and, on the other, on the (im)perceptible tactics of survival and mobility enacted by them upon arrival. We argue that the ‘humanitarian immigrant’ label negotiates stasis by instantiating an ambivalent and depoliticized subjectivity, modulated in-between the refugee and the immigrant worker. Migrants challenge this framing and the precarity of controls created by it through imperceptible tactical interventions that allow them to provisionally escape the inhospitable conditions of reception at Brazilian borders. In their attempts to resist and redefine the terms of their presence, Haitian migrants have actualized a web of solidarity networks that have fostered alternative understandings of migration management and its relation with citizenship as a site of political struggles.

Keywords:

• Acts of Citizenship
• autonomy of migration
• humanitarianism
• Haitian migration
• Brazil

Notes

1. A proposed new law of migration (PL 288/2013) recently approved by the Foreign Policy and National Defense Commission of the Brazilian Congress includes the ‘humanitarian visa’ as one of the categories that authorizes regular permanence in Brazilian territory. Once approved, it will reduce the juridical insecurity that currently affects Haitian migrants under this provisional legal umbrella. Haitians categorized under the humanitarian visa receive a protocol (a provisional document) and have to live with this precarious piece of identity for several years. In November 2015, the Brazilian government signed an agreement with the Haitian Embassy to grant ‘residency’ documents to around 44,000 Haitian registered migrants living in Brazil since 2010.

2. We use the term ‘migrant’ as a general category in reference to Haitians arriving in Brazil, since some did not arrive with the ‘humanitarian visa’ and would only later be granted the legal label of ‘humanitarian immigrants’.

3. In the past two years, other groups of migrants have started to arrive in Brasileia. Senegalese are the second largest group, and, given racial and religious differences, there have been tensions and divisions among the new arrivals and Haitian migrants.

4. After visiting the shelter in early 2013, the NGO Conectas made appeals to the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and to OAS’s Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The report is available at: http://www.conectas.org/pt/acoes/politica-externa/noticia/veja-as-recomendacoes-enviadas-ao-brasil-e-orgaos-internacionais-sobre-a-crise (accessed 14 July 2015).

5. Names of interviewees have been changed in order to preserve anonymity.

6. See full transcript at: http://reporterbrasil.org.br/2014/01/imigrantes-haitianos-sao-escravizados-no-brasil/ (accessed 12 July 2015).

7. The portal ‘Haiti Aqui’ can be accessed at: http://haitiaqui.com (accessed 20 January 2016).

8. See, for instance, the list of municipal associations of Haitian migrants in the Province of Santa Catarina. Available at: http://migramundo.com/2015/03/26/haitianos-ja-contam-com-pelo-menos-seis-associacoes-em-sc/.