António Cotrim / Lusa
The new proposal arises after the Constitutional Court has sparked the amendments to the Foreign Law. Leitão Amaro guarantees that the acceleration of expulsions cannot at issue the rights of immigrants.
The government will present in October a legislative proposal to reformulate the regime of removal of irregular immigrants in Portugal. The central objective is accelerate expulsion processesreducing deadlines and simplifying administrative procedures, in accordance with recently approved European rules.
In an interview with and Radio Renascença, the presidential minister, António Leitão Amaro, stressed that the current return law contains “excessively time consuming procedures”, Which compromise the effectiveness of decisions. Among the problems pointed out are the duplication of administrative phases, the existence of repeated periods for voluntary abandonment and the automatic suspensive effect associated with the funds presented. For the ruler, these failures make processes too long, creating difficulties in the management of migratory flows and the execution of expulsion orders.
The executive’s proposal is therefore intended to introduce greater speed without abdicating fundamental guarantees. Leitão Amaro assures that immigrants in an illegal situation will continue to be entitled to defense and to be heardbut legal mechanisms will allow decisions to be executed faster when there is no basis for permanence.
Despite the changes, the government will keep the period of two years For requests for family regrouping, admitting exceptions in specific cases. Settlement will also be preserved in relation to minors not accompanied and the expulsion of citizens will be prohibited to countries where the fundamental rights or safety conditions will not be guaranteed.
Regarding notifications of voluntary abandonment, the minister revealed that they have already been issued between 10 and 15 thousandin a universe that rises to tens of thousands of processes currently under review by the agency for integration, migrations and asylum (AIMA).
The announcement of the new regime arises after the Constitutional Court of some rules of the previous diploma, maladjusted in the face of constitutional principles. The government stresses that the revision now prepared intends to correct these weaknesses, reconciling the need for greater procedural efficiency with respect for the rules of the Constitution.
To the proposal will be presented in October And promises to rekindle the political debate around migratory politics.
