Lisbon – The government of Portugal announced last Saturday (3) that will notify 18,000 irregular immigrants to leave the country in the coming weeks. According to the Presidential Minister, António Leitão Amaro, 4,574 people will begin to be notified from this week, with a period of 20 days for voluntary departure. If they do not comply with the determination, it may be coercively removed.
Understand what you know about the case, the reasons cited by the Portuguese government and how the measure affects the Brazilian population living there.
Why are immigrants being notified?
Notifications are the result of decisions of rejection of residence authorization requests analyzed by the agency for integration, migrations and asylum (AIMA). As the minister explained at a news conference, these rejections occur for various reasons, such as criminal records, exit orders issued by other countries of the Schengen Space or irregular entry into Portuguese territory.
The assessment was conducted by AIMA’s mission structure, created to accelerate the analysis of thousands of accumulated requests after the extinction of the former Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF).
Who are the affected immigrants?
According to data confirmed by the government and released by the Portuguese newspaper DIARY OF NEWS75% of the 18,000 immigrants receiving notifications are from the Indian subcontinent – including citizens of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Another 7% are from non -Lusophone African countries, especially from Maghreb.
What is the situation of Brazilians?
Despite representing the largest foreign community in Portugal, Brazilians are a minority among the 18,000 affected. According to information circulating in the Portuguese press, only 2.5% (about 449 people) of the people to be notified are from Brazil or from African countries of Portuguese.
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The Embassy and the Consulate General of Brazil in Lisbon are in contact with Portuguese authorities to clarify how many Brazilians are on the list and how they can exercise their rights, such as appealing the administrative decision. “We are looking for more information,” consul-general Alessandro Candeas told the Portuguese newspaper Public.
What happens after the notification?
After issuing the notification, immigrants have up to 20 days to voluntarily leave the Portuguese territory. If they do not comply with the deadline, the government may apply the so -called “coercive removal” – that is, forced expulsion. Leitão Amaro acknowledged that the state is difficult to apply these measures and criticized Parliament for rejecting government proposals to accelerate the process and transferring AIMA’s competence to the police.
Casuism accusation
The measure drew attention for the political context in which it was announced: On the eve of the legislative elections scheduled for May 18, just before the official start of the election campaign.
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Support associations for immigrants, such as Casa do Brasil in Lisbon, claim that expulsions are not a new measure, but they see in the announcement a possible political use. “It seems minimally coincident that the current government announces that it will notify 18,000 immigrants to abandon the country in the middle of the election campaign and follow-up of a news of alleged corruption of the Prime Minister, with the entity in a statement.
