E/CN.4/2006/16/Add.3 page 18 treated differently from the others of white origin. They were illegally mistreated and imprisoned until the time of their repatriation. They were neither given the right to defence, and interpretation, nor were they informed of their rights. Only two were given the status of refugee because they had a document from the Red Cross identifying them as politically persecuted. The others were summarily deported, without a fair process assessing whether they would be persecuted if repatriated. The law regarding foreigners dates from the military period. In September, the Government prepared a bill that will hopefully be submitted to Parliament in 2006. The major claims relate to the possibility for foreigners to get documents and the applicability of the statute on children to children of illegal migrants and refugees. 61. The Special Rapporteur met with the Bolivian, Paraguayan and Peruvian community in São Paulo where around 150,000 non-Brazilian Latin Americans live. They feel discriminated against in their daily life, and are seen and treated as inferior, mainly because of the negative image portrayed by the media, which depicts them as criminal and uncivilized people. Latin Americans are mainly employed as illegal workers in Brazil, due to restrictive immigration law. As a consequence, Latin Americans lack the freedom to freely move about and live in constant fear of the police. They also lack appropriate access to health services. Their main concern, however, is the difficulty of sending their children to school. A lack of correct documents causes many to be refused by schools. A bilateral agreement between Bolivia and Brazil provides for the payment of R$ 828 per person for the procurement of legal papers, but with their meagre salaries Bolivians need to work for years in order to legalize one family member. This means that their children have no education and no future. Some cases of forced labour, in particular by Korean employers, have been mentioned. It appears that some Latin Americans are discriminated against because of their indigenous origins. 62. The Special Rapporteur met with the Japanese community in São Paulo, which claims to be very well integrated and respected. The Japanese are able to freely practise their religion and culture, and 65 per cent of Japanese marriages are mixed. IV. ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR 63. After having collected and analysed the views and information from all parties concerned, the Special Rapporteur reached the conclusion that racism and racial discrimination are profound realities in Brazil. The founding of the system of slavery on racist intellectual and ideological pillars, describing the enslaved Africans as culturally and mentally inferior, in order to legitimize their status as an economic good, as defined by the “black codes”, and the legal organization of slavery by the European powers, have profoundly impacted the mentalities and societal structures of all the countries in the hemisphere, including Brazil, which received 40 per cent of the enslaved Africans. 64. The Special Rapporteur noticed that the manifestations of the historical legacy of racism and racial discrimination still prevail throughout the society. The most striking manifestation is the virtual identity of social, economic and political marginalization with the map of the discriminated communities of indigenous and African descent communities. This manifests persistent structural and systemic racism and racial discrimination. Travelling in Brazil is like moving simultaneously between two different planets, from that of the lively coloured and mixed races of the streets to that of the almost all-white corridors of political, social, economic and media power.