Brazil is the home of many refugees and international immigrants and, in light of the conditions of their arrival in the country, many are faced with difficulties due to the absence of specific policies. This is why the goal of this research was to study the impact of COVID-19 on international migrant and refugees in relation to income loss food insecurity, income loss as well as other social inequities and to discover the explanations in these areas.

Methods

The study is cross-sectional analytic study. We utilized a validated tool used by experienced interviewers. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression using binary variables were used to find the causes of the loss of income and food insecurity.

360 people from sub-Saharan Africa as well as South American countries participated in the study. Individuals who were white, black/brown, yellow, had an occupation/employment, and earned less than one minimum wage were more likely to lose income. The people who reported zero income, had lower than one minimal wage and who were diagnosed with COVID-19 are more likely insecure.

Conclusions

The study improves understanding by identifying the causes related to loss of income as well as food insecurity and the difficulty of getting access to health care and social assistance measures in Brazil.

Background

The health crisis brought on through the COVID-19 pandemic had unprecedented effects on the society, revealing a myriad of issues with policies in various nations in the health, social, economic and other areas. In this regard the social security systems of a few Latin American countries were the most affected, since they were hit by the influx of individuals, which increased by 400% over the past decade within this region because of international migratory movements triggered by poverty, unemployment, hunger, and other instances of social vulnerability.

“International Migration” International Migration is defined as “Movements of individuals who leave their country of origin or their place of home to settle either permanently or for a short period in a different country. This implies that they cross international boundaries” [22. In 1951 it was the United Nations Convention defined a refugee as ” any person who, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, remains outside their country of origin, and because of these fears, they cannot or will not return to their country” [33. Migration is an ongoing process of change and it is a constant problem for the successful implementation of global measures that aim to safeguard the rights of refugees and migrants from abroad who are constantly in a vulnerable and at risk [44.

Studies have shown that despite Brazil’s pioneering part in the creation of laws and protection social measures that aim to ensure equality of rights for all refugees and international migrants on Brazil, the implementation of these measures has not kept up with the dynamic of migration, and the increase in social vulnerability that these events cause, particularly even when it occurs in an chaotic manner.

In the course of the displacement process It is normal for refugees and international migrant to experience terrifying and stressful situations as the challenges start when they leave their country where they came from, and often leave their loved ones and family members behind. ones. They are forced to migrate under unhealthy conditions of transport, hunger and being forced to pay high costs for the process of displacement. These situations are aggravating when they arrive in the country to where they are going in the face of difficulties in obtaining basic necessities and services, such as housing, food as well as health care [5 6, 6].

It’s also important to note that the movement of people during the outbreak raised worries about working conditions since the jobs of refugees and international migrants are highly regulated and have low wage rates [77. Under these conditions there are issues with regards to income as well as essential human necessities, for example, food, because refugees and international migrants have no legal protections and rights to labor which are a part of official employment