Unicamp's academic refuge program will be improved through an unprecedented partnership between the University and Itamaraty. Rector Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles and the deputy head of the Representation Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in São Paulo (Eresp), ambassador Irene Vida Gala, signed a technical cooperation agreement so that Itamaraty can provide assistance in proving the veracity of the documents presented by academic asylum seekers.
“For me, the primordial element is the convergence of interests between Unicamp and the country project that Brazil has revealed in the government's policy in relation to refuge”, said the ambassador. The initiative for the agreement came from the Sérgio Vieira de Mello Chair (CSVM) at Unicamp, a body linked to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Currently, Unicamp has around 20 students on undergraduate and postgraduate courses who entered through the CSVM academic refuge program. They are students of various ages, from Afghanistan, Angola, Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Iran, Palestine, Russia and Syria.
For these vacancies, Unicamp currently accepts refugees, stateless or undocumented people. The procedures involved in proving these conditions are not trivial – which is why Itamaraty's collaboration is so timely, says the ambassador.
“Our willingness to speed up documentation verification procedures is complete. We expressed interest in making this agreement because the reality of refuge becomes increasingly stronger. And Brazil wants to be a reference. Eventually, this agreement model can be extended to other universities and other states”, he adds.
For the rector, the agreement is an additional step in Unicamp's effort to be an open space for welcoming refugees in the teaching, research and training structure. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with its access to information around the world, can greatly assist us in this effort,” he said.
Eresp will also provide assistance to Unicamp in translating official identification, nationality and education documents coming from countries that have Brazilian diplomatic representation.
Currently, 40 higher education institutions in the country are affiliated with the CSVM, of which 22 had facilitated entry procedures between 2022 and 2023.
UNHCR's senior protection assistant, William Laureano, was present at the agreement signing meeting and declared that the unprecedented partnership signed between Unicamp and Itamaraty could become a reference for other institutions.
“The chair is one of our most important projects. Unicamp's presence here in Campinas, which is a region with a significant number of refugees, has translated into a lot of support for us. The University not only offers easy entry into courses, but also extension activities”, said Laureano.
The agreement was signed at a meeting held at Unicamp on November 22nd. Also participating in the event were the president of CSVM, Ana Carolina de Moura Delfim Maciel, the deputy chief of staff at Unicamp, Adriana Nunes Ferreira, the head of the Science, Technology and Innovation sector at Eresp, Mariana Ferreira, and the consular assistant at Eresp , Cássio Teles.
New perspective on life
Globally, only 5% of populations in forced displacement have the opportunity to enter a university, according to UNHCR data. In this scenario, Unicamp has promoted the expansion of its academic refuge program through the CSVM.
This expansion brings several challenges, such as knowledge of international laws and treaties, the translation of documents and contact with embassies and consular offices – hence the idea of the agreement with Itamaraty, as explained by Maciel, who initially made the partnership proposal to Gala.
“It will be essential that we have the expertise and consultancy from the Itamaraty office. We have, for example, documents that arrive in Farsi and other unusual languages”, says Maciel.
The humanitarian drama of forced migration, something that has intensified in recent years, tends to worsen even more, in global terms, as a result of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The CSVM issued a statement on the situation in early November. Read here
“The Sérgio Vieira de Mello Chair continues its mission of welcoming individuals at risk and vulnerability, enabling access to higher education and providing a new perspective on life”, concludes the president of the body.
Unicamp's deputy chief of staff highlights that the University benefits and grows by implementing the academic refuge program – something that goes beyond the issue of social responsibility.
“In addition to welcoming, which is part of the University’s mission, there is the dimension of expanding the scope of research, because, when we bring these people, our agendas are modified. The training of our students is modified in the direction of making them citizens of the world, more conscious citizens”, assesses Nunes Ferreira.
