“Returnees” from Africa – Integration in Madeira (1974-1977)

• Autor(a) principal: Souto, Odete Mendonça Henriques
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://ahm-abm.madeira.gov.pt/index.php/ahm/article/view/63

The Portuguese decolonization in Africa, after 25 April 1974, gave rise to the largest exodus of Portuguese in memory, and one of the largest in Europe, in the context of postcolonial return migrations. It is estimated that between 1974 and 1976 Portugal received about half a million people from the former colonies, commonly referred to as “returnees”. Of these, it is estimated that eight thousand have come to Madeira.The present article analyzes the life paths of a group of returnees who arrived in Madeiran territory, through the reporting of their personal experiences, trying to understand how their integration process proceeded.The results indicate that the family was the main base of reception of the returnees, who were initially housed in their home. It was also possible to verify the existence of institutional support made by the municipality of Machico and the Institute for Support to the Return of Nationals (IARN). The main difficulties of integration were mainly economic and cultural, overcome by the return to active life: work and / or studies. Despite the drama experienced and the great difficulties experienced, the integration of returnees interviewed took place without social disruption, considering that they were fully integrated in Madeiran society.   Keywords Migration; Decolonization; Return; Reception; Integration.