Policy depends on results of elections on May 18
Portugal’s caretaker AD government will be seeking to accelerate the deportation of illegal/ undocumented migrants.
SIC Notícias brings this story today, saying one of the proposals is to end the “voluntary abandonment of national territory, and reduce the time limit to 10 days”.
These changes, naturally, depend on the elections: if AD returns with a working majority, they will move forwards.
SIC explains, right now, when a migrant is served notice to quit the country, he/ she is given time to do so voluntarily, before any enforcement measures.
Diário de Notícias goes into more detail about the plans, which are presented as a way of “bringing justice to those who comply with the rules”, and being “a condition of tranquility and social support for the integration system”.
Minister for the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, explains: “Portugal needs to review its deportation system, which doesn’t work. It is important to realise that Portugal is one of the three countries in Europe that executes the fewest deportations of people who ordered to leave for violating the rules, including for security reasons”
He stressed Portugal is not contemplating an aggressive deportations policy – rather one that “is balanced, and works”.
Legal protocols will be adhered to, and human rights respected. “This means procedural rights will be heard”, there will be “counselling and special protection for vulnerable citizens, in particular young people and those who flee persecution”. This way, the elections on May 18 “will also serve to judge the change in immigration policy” – something that people working with migrants have said they wish would not be the case.
“This debate is taking place in Europe and Portugal has to start so that the new government, and indeed the new parliament, can legislate and legislate with an internal debate involving non-governmental organisations, experts, representatives of migrant communities, representatives of the security forces and intelligence services”, said Leitão Amaro.
To this end, the government’s proposal also foresees “building temporary installation centers where those in an illegal situation are detained until they are removed (…) There is no doubt that today we would already have a foreigners and borders unit in the PSP (police force) and we would already have changes in the system for removing illegal immigrants, if the PS and CHEGA had not voted against this in parliament”, Leitão Amaro added.
The proposal to create a National Unit for Foreigners and Borders (UNEF) was rejected in September by the opposition, with the exception of IL (Iniciativa Liberal), which abstained.
The government’s proposal contemplates the possibility of foreign citizens being sent to countries other than their countries of origin, but Leitão Amaro rejects ‘return hubs’, a proposal by several European countries to finance detention centers outside the EU.
“Europeans must develop a system that works by assuming their own responsibility, respecting fundamental rights”, particularly in the cases of children or those fleeing persecution”.
Portugal and two other countries opposed the creation of these ‘return hubs’, as a mandatory measure in the European Commission’s proposal, the minister recalled.
According to the proposal presented today at the national council for migrations and asylum, deportations will be centralised in the future UNEF of the PSP, which should “ensure the functioning of the system under a permanent availability regime”. ND
Source material: SIC Notícias/ Diário de Notícias/ Noticiasaominuto
