Brazilians in the United Kingdom
Brazilians came to the UK from the 1980s onwards to study, but once they arrived some discovered that the major cities' (in particular London's) ethnic and cultural diversity offered more professional opportunities.
[1] The Brazilian community of the UK was brought into the global spotlight in 2005 as a result of the death of Jean Charles de Menezes.
[2][3] Menezes was a Brazilian national living and working in Tulse Hill, south London who on the morning of 22 July 2005 was misidentified as Hamdi Adus Isaac—one of the fugitives involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts.
[4] This misidentification ultimately lead to a number of non-uniformed Metropolitan Police officers following Menezes into Stockwell tube station and onto a train, where he was shot in the head seven times.
[15] It has been suggested that the discrepancy is due to Brazilians overstaying their visas, or only seeing their stays as temporary, and therefore not participating in surveys or censuses.
The 2001 Census showed that 8,000 people born in Brazil were residing in the capital, however in the same year other estimates suggested that were that between 15,000 and 50,000 Brazilians in London.
[22] Despite being relatively well educated, the majority of Brazilian immigrants to the UK have taken up professions that differ greatly from their previous careers in Brazil.
[23] The majority of Brazilian-born migrants to the UK choose jobs that are for the most part unskilled and low-paid; the reasons behind this include restrictions imposed by their immigration status and lack or limited knowledge of the English language.
They include personal care, counselling, solicitors and lawyers that provide services in Portuguese, baby sitting, private cleaning, removals and transportation, travel agencies, private functions, money transfer, accommodation, as well as shops selling Brazilian clothing, food and drink, alongside numerous cafes and restaurants.
Canal Londres.tv is an internet TV channel with news reports, interviews and advertisement directed mainly towards the Brazilians living in London.
[24] br@sil.net is a physical and online magazine that is concerned with topics from Brazil as well as covering information about the Brazilian British community.
[26] Jungle Drums is a monthly magazine with content in Portuguese and English aimed primarily at the younger generations of the Brazilian British community.
They also offer free classifieds sections that allow the Portuguese-speaking community to post advertisements for their businesses, job opportunities and property for sale.
The vibrant emerging Brazilian community in the capital has in a short time been influential in shaping the face of London and its residents.
[32] Many Brazilian acts perform in the Carnaval del Pueblo, Europe's largest celebration of Latin American culture, held in Burgess Park, London.
[44] The Brazilian sport of Footvolley also now has a presence in the UK, and there is an England national team[45] that has competed in places such as Brighton and Margate as well as abroad in France, Spain and Portugal.
[51] Among the notable footballers who have played for Premier League teams are Juninho, Júlio Baptista, Gilberto Silva, Oscar, Robinho, among others.
The former player and football manager Leonardo also worked as a pundit in the BBC's Match of the Day programmes during the 2006 World Cup.
