Left wing MPs vote for ‘strengthening resources’ of ACT works authority
Parliament has approved a recommendation to strengthen the resources of ACT – the country’s authority for working conditions.
In another move essentially forced by left-wingers against government policy, the motion proposed by LIVRE involves ACT staff being “trained in languages for inspections”, and creating documentation in Hindi, Urdu and Bengali for companies that employ migrant workers.
In the same vote, other migrant-friendly proposals were not carried forwards (PCP communists sought to see every residence permit pending in the substantial backlog rubber-stamped; Bloco de Esquerda wanted to see ‘the integration of socio-cultural animators’ employed by AIMA, the agency for integrated migrations and asylum).
But the upshot of yesterday’s debate was that Opposition MPs were hugely critical of the government’s decision to sweep away with the ‘expressions of interest’ mechanism (which allowed immigrants to arrive on tourist visas, and then apply for residency), suggesting “migrants will continue to arrive anyway”, but now they will simply be more vulnerable to the pitfalls of trafficking networks, by having no means of regularising their situations.
António Filipe of PCP communists called the current immigration situation “calamitous in many ways”. Even though the government is creating a mission structure within AIMA, and reinforcing the overworked agency with 300 people, the PCP doubts this will be enough to cope with the backlog of applications that have built up.
For the PS, Cláudia Santos stressed that it was “absolutely undignified for a State to finance its social security at the expense of the social benefits of immigrants whose regularisation it does not allow”.
The expressions of interest mechanism was brought in by PS Socialists, she said, who were “very proud” of the policy on immigration that they ran for eight years.
Her views were not shared by the centre-right: CDS-PP MP João Almeida dubbing Socialist policy in this area “a mistake from the point of rigour and also of humanism” – and otherwise insults were exchanged, with IL’s Mário Amorim Lopes accusing the previous PS government of “carelessness and ineptitude“, “supported by far-left parties that always claim to be the great champions of humanism”, and CHEGA of “treating immigrants like criminals”. ND
Source material: LUSA
