“There is no evidence linking an increase of crime in Albufeira to immigration” – protest organisers
Albufeira will celebrate diversity on Saturday, February 8 in response to a protest against “increasing criminality and immigration” called for the same day by Grupo 1143, a nationalist group linked to Neo-Nazism.
This counter-protest, due to take place at 3pm at the Praça dos Pescadores beachside square, is being organised by a group of local citizens calling themselves ‘Frente Anti-Discriminação Algarve’ (Anti-Discrimination Front).
“There is no evidence linking an increase of crime in Albufeira to immigration. On the contrary, the Algarve is historically a region of cultural diversity,” the group says. “What has in fact increased in recent years is inequality, affecting people from all backgrounds.”
The group insists that the “true problem that is not discussed is the lack of essential public services, such as health and education, and the complete lack of a right to housing.”
“This is a structural problem with no relation to migrant worker communities (who contribute the most to Social Security) and is caused by decades of policies of disinvestment in these sectors in favour of unsustainable tourism, which generates more precariousness and deepens inequalities,” it adds.
The diversity celebration aims to call on people to “unite” to solve the region’s “real issues”, instead of advocating segregation of discrimination.
