Dr. Pacifico has been an international lawyer since 1993, with expertise in International Human Rights Law, particularly human rights of refugees and forced migrants, since 1997. She has been an associate professor for Law and International Relations at Maceio, Brasilia, and Joao Pessoa universities since 1997. She has taught International Law/Relations, Human Rights, and Refugee and Migration Issues for more than two decades. Dr. Pacifico has also presented seminars, given lectures and interviews, published papers, supervised theses and dissertations on these issues, and my own research principally focuses on human rights of legal minorities and human rights protections of refugees and legal minorities in Brazil and abroad.
Currently, Dr. Pacifico is a full-time associate professor in International Relations at Paraiba State University and a full-time collaborator/researcher at the Post-Graduate Program in Comparative Studies on the Americas, at University of Brasilia, both in Brazil, in addition to being a Senior Research Associate at the Refugee Law Initiative at University of London, UK. She was a post-doctoral fellow at the York University Centre for Refugee Studies, Canada (2009 to 2010), visiting research fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre of the University of Oxford, UK (2010 to 2011), visiting research fellow at the Refugee Law Initiative of the University of London, UK (2020-2021), and visiting fellow at the GEES of the University of Birmingham (2024 to 2025).
Addiction/drugs/drug policy, Caste discrimination or persecution, Climate-related issues, Deportees/criminal deportees, Disability, Ethnic discrimination or persecution, Female genital mutilation/circumcision/FGC, Forced marriage, Gang-related violence/non-state actors, Gender-based violence/domestic violence, Healthcare access/health systems capacity, Journalist persecution, Land tenure disputes, LGBTQ, Mental illness, Political persecution, Prison conditions, Religious discrimination or persecution, Government/state actor persecution, Risk of retaliation, Safe internal relocation, Sexual abuse/assault, Specialized medical services, Trafficking, Violence against children/child abuse, Persecution from organised crime groups. Persecution for having witnessed crimes
I have produced more than 20 COI reports since 2014 for Brazilian citizens and African citizens (especially from Angola, Sudan, Senegal, and Congo) who have been asylum seekers in the USA and in the UK. In Brazil, I have also assisted asylum seekers with their RSD procedures and have done research and published exaustively on the issue, because I am a scholar (professor and researcher) and the founding coordinator of the Research and Study Centre on Environmentally Displaced Persons (NEPDA), at Paraiba State University. I have given only 2 or 3 testimoies before the US Courts, because my Reports are usually well accepted by Courts.
* Brazilian Forced Migrants Abroad: Endemic Insecurity as a Reason to Flee (Revista do IBDH, 22, p. 107-118, 2022). Co-authored with Danielle Annoni. Article.
* Venezuelan Forced Migrants and Refugees in Brazil and Ecuador: Security Issues and Social Provision during the COVID‐19 Pandemic. Vestnik RUDN. International Relations, v. 22, p. 554-570, 2022. Co-authored with Johnatan dos Santos and Sarah Silva. Article.
* Environmentally Internally Displaced Persons in the Northeastern Backlands of Brazil: A Case Study (New Castle, UK: CSP, 2022). Book.
• A Network Society Communicative Model for Optimising the Refugee Status Determination System (Joao Pessoa: EDUEPB, 2022). Book.
• International and National Protection of Environmentally Displaced Persons in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro: Lumen Juris, 2017). CO-authored with Reginaldo de Araujo Neto. Book
• Women’s Rights in Alagoas: An Analysis of the Women’s Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association in Alagoas (unpublished Report, 2012). Book
• Racial Discrimination in Alagoas: The Role of the Minority Rights’ Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association in Alagoas (Maceio: EDUFAL, 2011). Book
• Social Capital of Refugees: Cultural Background and Public Policy (Maceio: EDUFAL, 2010). Book.
• International Treaties and Brazilian Constitutional Law (Brasilia: Brasilia Juridica, 2002),
• Drugs, Violence and Criminality in Alagoas (Maceio: Sergasa, 1995). Book.