MPs return to parliament today, following the summer break, straight into controversy. Immigrants from all over the country are also making for Lisbon this morning, answering the call put out by Solidariedade Imigrante and other associations.
In the words of Lusa news agency, the throngs will be protesting against what they say is a “climate of intimidation” – this referring to the changes that the social democrat government is planning to introduce effective controls on foreigners arriving in this country.
Timóteo Macedo, the figurehead of Solidariedade Imigrante, told Lusa: “We are witnessing a series of arbitrary acts and injustices against immigrants, particularly the persecution of immigrants, as if they were criminals.”
Macedlo was alluding to the detention of dozens of immigrants in temporary detention centers, because they are on the Schengen Information System list for having been in another European Union member state before arriving in Portugal.
“This is not a crime”, he tells Lusa. “The Portuguese state is the one committing illegal acts in this regard.”
To be fair, the fact that these immigrants have arrived in Portugal from another EU member state does suggest that they were not welcomed/ accepted for settlement in that particular country.
For Solidariedade Imigrante, however, there is a “climate of intimidation towards those who work and contribute to this country, who have been in the job market for several years and in sectors of activity in which Portugal has several deficiencies.”
Referring to the changes the government intends to introduce to foreigners and nationality laws, Solidariedade Imigrante believes the government is setting “a bad example” in terms of reception and integration policies.
At the end of July, Solidariedade Imigrante – Association for the Defence of Immigrants’ Rights – organised a major protest in Porto, which brought together around a thousand immigrants, according to the organisation’s figures.
At the time, former Left Bloc MP José Soeiro, who is also a Solidariedade Imigrante member, reported the detention of 10 immigrants in Temporary Installation Centers in Portugal – a number that, according to Timóteo Macedo, has now increased eight-fold.
Source: LUSA
