Brazilian refugee policy: State policy or government policy?

Este artigo estuda historicamente as acoes do governo brasileiro frente ao grupo dos refugiados e solicitantes de asilo, como definidos pela Convencao de Genebra de 1951, com o intuito de classificar se houve uma politica de Estado ou uma politica de governo em relacao a essa tematica. A metodologia utilizada foi, assim, uma analise historica das posicoes dos diferentes presidentes da Republica a respeito dessa populacao, focando-se a atuacao governamental durante o regime militar, o periodo da redemocratizacao e os governos recentes. E possivel concluir que houve mais continuidades do que grandes mudancas, o que pode ser explicado pelo papel do Ministerio das Relacoes Exteriores e seu chamado 'acervo diplomatico' This paper studies the actions historically taken by the Brazilian Government considering the refugees and asylum seekers as defined by the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) in order to classify if it has been undertaken as a State Policy or a Government Policy. The methodology used was thus an historical analysis from the position assumed by the different presidents regarding this population, focusing on the governmental performance during the military regime, the redemocratization period and the most recent administrations. It is possible to conclude that the continuities were more relevant than the changes. One explication for this phenomenon is the importance of the Exterior Relations Ministry and its 'diplomatic memory'. Adapted from the source document.