Social inequality and the development of refugees and LGBTQIA+ immigrants: the case of the municipality of São Paulo in the new Brazilian migratory context post-2010.
Since the decade of 2010, Brazil has re-emerged as a significant recipient of international migrants. During this period, the nation has witnessed successive waves of migration, encompassing individuals facing acute vulnerabilities, including Haitians, Syrians, Venezuelans, and Afghans. This demographic presents a challenge to Brazil's social and developmental policies, notably within the city of São Paulo, which hosts the highest
concentration of refugees and immigrants in the country. However, it is imperative to acknowledge the non-uniform nature of this population. Indeed, its pronounced characteristic lies in its vast array of national, ethnic, social, and sexual diversities, among other facets. Consequently, the confluence of these distinct markers of differentiation engenders a relation of social inequity within the immigrant community itself, which implies the need for the formulation of specific actions and policies to promote the human development of specific groups. This holds particularly true for migrants and refugees who identify within the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. This research endeavors to address the inquiry of how the interplay between migration and issues related to gender and sexuality influences the experiences of LGBTQIA+ refugees and migrants in São Paulo, specifically in terms of social disparity. To answer this inquiry, consultations were undertaken with pivotal stakeholders, encompassing both individuals and institutions actively engaged in the promotion of welfare of the subjects pertinent to this study. This approach was chosen due to the scarcity of accessible data on the vulnerabilities of these persons of concern. The discerned insights were subjected to analysis through the prism of the LSE’s Multidimensional Inequality Framework, predicated upon the Capabilities Approach put forward by the eminent Indian economist Amartya Sen, which serves as the theoretical underpinning of this study. The findings suggest that LGBTQIA+ migrants and refugees tend to experience heightened vulnerability relatively to their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts, notably in domains of health, physical and legal security, labor market integration, and general living conditions. Moreover, the marker of "gender" emerges as the locus of most pronounced adversity, thereby rendering trans-identifying refugees and migrants the most susceptible demographic within the purview of this investigation. Consequently, measures to enhance the capability set of LGBTQIA+ migrants and refugees, with particular emphasis on the transgender demographic, seem to be urgent in order to promote just and inclusive human development within São Paulo’s municipal ambit.