In a Music Video, Refugees Say Thanks to Brazil for Welcoming Them

Screenshot from YouTube.

Screenshot from YouTube.

A group of refugees who live in São Paulo have composed a song and produced an accompanying music video to thank Brazil for opening its doors to them — and also to raise locals’ awareness of refugee issues.

More than 30 refugees from different nationalities participated in the music video's production, which was funded by the Global Youth Initiative Fund, a program from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) that supports projects led by young refugees.

While they walk through famous landmarks of São Paulo, the cast — with people from Nigeria, Syria and Bangladesh, among other countries — sings about the reasons why they had to leave their homelands and the prejudices they still face in Brazil. Watch the video with English subtitles below:

The number of refugees currently settled in Brazil has increased 1,200% in the last four years, which has prompted both curiosity and discrimination from the Brazilian population. According to the Brazilian National Committee for Refugees (CONARE), there are 7,700 people from 81 countries with refugee status currently recognized, most of them from Syria, Colombia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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