João Matos / Lusa
A boat with 38 migrants, including seven minors, landed on August 8, 2025, at Boca do Rio Beach, in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, district of Faro.
Moroccans intercepted on August 8 in the Algarve were released that the maximum detention period was exceeded. However, the removal process will continue to take place. The government warned of the “objective lack of legal conditions” in these cases.
According to a joint statement from the presidency and the internal administration, 37 of the 38 Moroccan citizens with illegal entry in Portugal were released from the Temporary Installation Center (CIT) in which they were.
According to the same source, after the departure of CIT and before the suspensive effect of its resources or requests for assistance in the process of asylum, foreign citizens will be housed by social security.
The illegal mining were released because the Portuguese law in force establishes a maximum 60 -day citize And, after this period, the state is required to free people.
Still, the removal process continues in progress.
“During this period, two of the citizens accepted voluntary abandonment, and one of them gave up before their realization. The other citizens have appealed to the expansion provided for in the current law, in order to delay their coercive removal,” the government stressed in the statement.
“For this purpose, they presented requests for asylum or international protection, judicial resources with suspensive effects and did not have documentation (which makes it difficult to accept return in the country of origin),” he added.
“Objective lack of conditions”
The government stressed that the judicial and administrative authorities, PSP and agency for integration, migrations and asylum (AIMA), acted “with the speed possible, but within the limitations imposed by the current lawincluding in the detention and rejection of asylum requests. ”
In particular, AIMA opened the proceedings of removal from national territory “in the days immediately following the presentation to the judge, and rejected asylum requests in less than 7 days.”
The executive also stressed, in the press release, that he has warned last year to “ objective lack of legal, material and organizational conditions for the rapid and effective execution of coercive removal in Portugal“.
Identified problems
The government identified three “strangles to the speed of the removal”, stressing that with the SEF EXTINCTION (Foreign and Borders Service), the return task was attributed to the Loved and absence of ability in citizens.
Another problem identified by the government is the legal regime of return in force in Portugal induce and allow large delay in the process, “with too long deadlines, duplication of procedural phases and with administrative and judicial resources which can be used in a dilatory way. ”
The presidency and the internal administration also stressed that the government has been active to resolve strangulations, explaining that the return competence has already been legally transferred from AIMA to the National Unit of Foreigners and Borders (UNEF) of PSP.
This change occurred in the summer of this year “because the first attempt at the end of 2024 was spoiled in Parliament, by votes of the two largest opposition parties.”
The government also stressed that it has already approved the financing of the construction of two New CIT, in the regions of Lisbon and Portowhose execution is now borne by PSP and will allow you to add 300 vacancies to 85 currently existing.
“The government’s first legislative attempt to accelerate the regime of removal of illegal immigrants was also spoiled by Parliament in late 2024, again, with votes of the two largest opposition parties,” can be read.
The new proposal for a return regime revision announced by the government, to accelerate deadlines, reduce administrative phases and dilatory expedients, will be presented in October, guaranteed the guardianship.
