Two (purported) teenagers “speak up” in presence of translator
Two apparent unaccompanied minors have been identified among the many homeless immigrants sleeping rough near the Anjos Church in Lisbon, said one of the lawyers who has been accompanying the group since last week.
According to Erica Costa, the minors were identified on Thursday when they presented birth certificates allegedly proving that they were born in 2008, with one aged 15 and the other already 16.
According to the lawyer, the presence of a translator who spoke Uolofe, a common language in Senegal, helped the youngsters to speak up.
Erica Costa, who works for Casa do Brasil and has been providing legal support to several homeless immigrants who have been identified since last week, in a joint effort with the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) and the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML), said that the minors were referred to AIMA.
An AIMA technician is understood to have said that the youngsters would be sent to an emergency centre, but this didn’t happen.
Contacted by Lusa, an AIMA source admitted the organisation is aware of the case, but cannot confirm the ages of the young people, explaining only that “two foreign citizens applied for international protection at the AIMA Lisbon II Shop.
“During the registration procedures and the collection of biometric data, it was found that both citizens had previously applied for international protection in Portugal, one in January and the other in February 2024, with personal data that differed from the ones they presented today, namely those relating to their ages,” said the source.
The organisation, which was set up following the demise of the SEF, foreigners and borders agency, claims that there is a “clear disparity between the alleged data and the various documents presented“, which is why the “competent authorities” will investigate whether or not there has been “the commission of criminal offences”.
According to Erica Costa, the two young people, who entered Portugal by sea from Spain two months ago, did indeed initially apply for asylum as adults, along with two other people who accompanied them.
However, she argues that, given the doubts about their ages, AIMA should have referred them to an emergency solution while it investigated the veracity of the facts, rather than the opposite.
The young people are part of a group of dozens of homeless immigrants who, since last week, have been identified by authorities near the Anjos Church in Lisbon, in an initiative by Lisbon City Council (CML) with the involvement of various institutions.
At the time, an official from the Solidariedade Imigrante association told Lusa that the total number of homeless people in this area has recently fluctuated between 100 and 120, currently with a strong presence of citizens from Senegal and Gambia – “between 60 and 80” – most of whom have had their asylum applications rejected and have been “told to leave the country within 20 days“.
Lisbon City Council explains that the aim of its initiative is to “resolve the growing concentration of homeless people in the Jardim da Igreja dos Anjos“.
Source: LUSA
