African immigration to Latin America

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African immigrants to Latin America include citizens and residents of countries in Latin America who were born in, or with recent ancestors from Africa. This excludes descendants of people who were forcibly transported to the Americas through the Atlantic slave trade.

Contents

Yale University published a report on the increasing immigration of people from the African continent to countries in Latin America. This report explains this trend in immigration as being due to the stricter border controls and immigration policies by countries across Europe. This report also cites rises in xenophobic sentiment across Europe as a reason for increased migration of African immigrants from Africa to Latin America. [1] Besides that, another important reason for the increase in the arrival of people from West Africa, especially those from Senegal, in Brazil had to do with the migration opportunities created in 2014 during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil and in 2016 during the Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [2]

Brazil is cited as having the largest black population of any country outside of Africa. Brazil's and most of Latin America's friendly immigration policies attract migration from people from the African countries who seek to be integrated into society. [3]

History

Latin America Net Migration LatinAmericaNetMigration.svg
Latin America Net Migration

During the Portuguese Colonial War and Angolan and Mozambican Civil Wars, some Angolans and Mozambicans fled to Brazil and became citizens.

After the end of both wars, most migration across the Atlantic to Latin America was from West Africa, often due to political and socioeconomic instability, and a trend toward the tightening of border security in the European Union in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century. The process of settlement and citizenship acquisition, however, has been eased for these immigrants due to the presence of pre-existing Black diaspora populations in such countries as Brazil, which has minimized local trends towards xenophobia or colorism. [4]

By country

Brazil

Background

In the period between the late 19th century and the early 20th century, Brazilian immigration policy became restrictive of migration by populations from Africa in an effort to shift the population's racial demographic from being diverse to a white majority one. These policies worked by encouraging migration of people of European descent and making it difficult for people of African descent to enter the country. This same stance was imposed on Asians. These policies differed sharply from policies in the United States that enforced segregation and racial inequality. Brazil's policies were rooted in its history of interracial blending and relationships between the native people of Brazil, Europeans, and Africans. [5]

Puerto Rico

See also

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References

  1. Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Africans and Asians attracted to Latin America as a migration route". UNHCR. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  2. Sangalli, Lucas Cé; Carmo Santos Gonçalves, Maria do (2020), Bahl, Eva; Becker, Johannes (eds.), "Migrants and Refugees from Ghana and Haiti in Southern Brazil: Familial Constellations and Processes of Escape", Göttinger Beiträge zur soziologischen Biographieforschung, Göttingen: Göttingen University Press, pp. 83–102, doi: 10.17875/gup2020-1315 , ISBN   978-3-86395-454-3, S2CID   229221772 , retrieved 2022-03-07
  3. "More African Immigrants Finding a Home in Latin America | YaleGlobal Online". yaleglobal.yale.edu. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  4. Andres, Luis (2009-11-15). "African immigrants drift toward Latin America". Reuters . Retrieved 2016-06-02.
  5. Lauderbaugh, George. "Migration to Latin America, 1800–1914". World History Encyclopedia, Alfred J. Andrea, ABC-CLIO, 1st edition, 2011. Credo Reference, . Accessed 25 Oct 2017.
  6. "American FactFinder - Results". Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2016.