SOCIAL PREJUDICE, REFUGEES AND PUBLIC SOCIAL POLICIES

Abstract

The present study addressed the relationship between civil society and the reception of Venezuelan refugees in Brazil. It was a question of observing the incidence or not of historical-cultural discrimination in favor of the “other”, of those who are considered different. In this sense, we investigated how Brazilian citizens, from their place of speech, welcome these people who enter the country in a vulnerable situation. Thus, the qualitative research method was used, with the deductive and historical method, in order to understand the paradigm that built prejudice against Venezuelan refugees today. In this aspect, the presence of prejudice and stigma was questioned regarding public policies, aiming at the implementation of contemporary legislation, on humanitarian issues relating to refugees. In view of this, it was possible to verify that the change in treatment to be given to refugees necessarily involves raising awareness among civil society and, through internal education, to mitigate prejudice regarding the acceptance of otherness. Given this, the work sought as a contribution the theories developed by Paulo Freire and Emanuelle Tourme-Jouannet. It was found that there is an abysmal gap between what the Brazilian legal system prescribes and the reception of refugees in Brazil.