According to a report by Público, being Brazilian had already been the factor that motivated the most complaints in 2020 (96) and the same happened in 2021 (109). In 2017, the year in which the CICDR started reporting, there are only 18 complaints from Brazilians.

According to the complaints, the main reason is “nationality”, followed by “skin colour” and then “racial and ethnic origin.” The data also show that women are the most likely (45.9%) to file a complaint. Other grounds of discrimination are belonging to “Gypsy ethnicity” and “black skin colour”.

Pedro Neto, executive director of Amnesty International Portugal, points out that the evolution of complaints takes place alongside the growth of the Brazilian community in Portugal. “It must be taken into account that the Brazilian community is the largest in Portugal [represents 29.3% of the total number of foreign residents], a statistic that also contributes to the increase in complaints”, he points out.

Among the areas with the most complaints of discrimination, commerce leads with 15% of participations.

Of the set of complaints received by the CICDR in 2021, 85 gave rise to 73 administrative offences, which corresponds to 17.9% of the total number of reports received. There are still no decisions on these cases.