Facing a pandemic away from home: COVID-19 and the Brazilian immigrants in Portugal

Abstract

In the early months of 2020, the world was surprised by the pandemic of SARS-CoV- 2, a new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The pandemic placed individuals from specific social groups in vulnerable situations. In Portugal, this includes immigrants, whose lives have been disrupted due to lack of access to the public health system for undocumented individuals, absence or delay of information and lack of guidance in their mother tongue, as well as breach of human rights at national borders and in everyday situations. This group includes Brazilian immigrants, currently the largest immigrant community in Portugal. In this context, we decided to conduct empirical research to understand the specific impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of these immigrants. Between May 18 and June 22, 2020, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 Brazilians living in Portugal, in which we not only discussed the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the respondents’ prior biographical and migration background. The conversations generated interesting findings related to their opinions on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on their lives, such as disturbances to their daily routines and mental health, feelings of insecurity, the strengthening of contact with relatives in Brazil and rescheduling of future plans.