When the tents of immigrants were ‘removed’ from the garden outside Anjos Church where they had been set up in an unsightly encampment for months, the council let it be known that the immigrants themselves would be housed in local hostels for an ‘indeterminate period’. It now seems this is not true – and that the ‘clear up’ may well have been a ruse to help the capital ‘look good for the October 5 ‘Implantation of the Republic’ commemorations. According to PCP (communist) members of the council, the immigrants lost possessions in the clear-up process, are in uncomfortable conditions and unlikely to be allowed to remain in them for more than one month… Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas is under heavy criticism, and has been described by left wingers on his minority council as having behaved like a ‘little Napoleon’.
Questions over Lisbon ‘immigrant clear-up’
The Anjos encampment is now no more, which will be a relief to residents of the area, but the immigrants are no better off...
