April 13, 2025 – During an operation against street vendors in the Brás neighborhood in São Paulo, Brazil, police officers shot Senegalese street vendor Ngange Mbaye as he was trying to protect his goods from being confiscated.

This situation, as shocking as it is, is not unprecedented. The violence of authorities against street vendors in Brazil, especially migrant workers in São Paulo, has been widely reported. Instead of working towards an inclusive formalization process, city authorities have preferred to use brute force to forbid street vendors from working, even though the vast majority of these workers turn to street vending precisely because they lack alternative ways to survive in the formal market.

As StreetNet International, a global alliance of street and market vendors and hawkers, we stand in solidarity with our fellow workers in Brazil and we extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Ngange Mbaye. Ngange’s wife is pregnant and local people reported that they had the baby shower organized for last Sunday. Witnesses also reported that Ngange was struggling to recover the merchandise of an older woman who couldn’t afford to be without her goods. We demand that those responsible for this death are swiftly brought to justice and an end to the repression policies against vendors in São Paulo. The city authorities should be held accountable for the violence exercised against their human rights.

We echo the statement of our Brazilian affiliate UNICAB – União Nacional de Trabalhadores e Trabalhadores Camelôs, Ambulantes e Feirantes do BrasiI – ‘Working is not a crime, the real crime is violence against street vendors!’

In a year where the informal economy will be the focus of global leaders during the 113th International Labour Conference, this news comes as a painful reminder of the real cost of the absence of workers rights-based formalization strategies for informal economy workers. At the most basic level, when we demand recognition as workers, we are not simply talking about laws, policies or access to protections – we are asking not to be shot dead in the streets just because we need to work to sustain ourselves and our families.

As our affiliate UNICAB states:

“Urban planning cannot be an excuse for social exclusion, but rather a tool for justice and inclusion”.

It is possible to have cities where street vendors and informal economy workers, including migrant workers, thrive instead of being murdered, persecuted and punished. City authorities can start by involving street vendors themselves through their organisations, and jointly coming up with solutions that benefit all. Human rights violations against street vendors must be stopped!

Ngange presente! Today and always!