The mayor of Porto said this Monday that the attack on migrants that occurred early on Friday morning is “unacceptable and a hate crime,” defending the dismantling of AIMA – the Agency for the Integration of Migrants and Asylum.
“The attack on a house where immigrants live in the parish of Bonfim in Porto is a hate crime that cannot in any way be relativized. This is an unacceptable attack,” said Rui Moreira at the beginning of the meeting of the municipal executive body.
Stating that any attempt to justify or explain this attack is unacceptable, the independent source stressed that it is also unacceptable to say that it is happening as a response to other crimes occurring in the area and to say that the blame lies with Parliament or the interpretation of colonialism.
“These speeches serve those who are interested in opening barricades in our society,” he added.
The mayor said it is necessary to trust that police authorities are doing everything possible to ensure that those responsible, directly or indirectly, are identified and that justice knows how to punish them “in an exemplary manner.”
Rui Moreira realized that this episode required “concrete action, great responsibility and rationality in the management of limited public resources.”
The mayor of Porto therefore defended the closure of AIMA and the use of the resources at its disposal so that municipalities can respond and strengthen police forces with resources they currently do not have to fight crime.
“I repeat, AIMA is a dysfunctional agency that is wasting public money without fulfilling its mandate and therefore must be dismantled,” he insisted.
Rui Moreira asked why, in a country where parliamentary commissions of inquiry are created “so easily,” the Assembly of the Republic does not investigate the activities of this national agency, which “remains dead in the face of the obvious lack of control over migratory flows.”
Early on Friday morning, three attacks and assaults on immigrants took place in the Campo 24 de Agosto area, on Rua do Bonfim and Rua Fernandez Tomás in Porto.
According to PSP, the attacks were carried out by multiple groups and five immigrants were taken to hospital due to their injuries.
Following the attacks, six men were identified and one was arrested for illegal weapons possession.
Given the suspicion of a hate crime, the judicial police began to investigate the case.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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