Lisbon chamber demands ‘functional service for foreigners and borders’

Filip Roseta (PSD), housing adviser at the Lisbon Chamber, on Tuesday reaffirmed the need for “a functioning Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF)” to respond to illegal immigration situations in the city.

“There is a problem with the SEF, it has been extinct for more than two years and does not work, it should work,” complained a housing adviser in response to questions from the municipal deputy Bruno Mascarenhas from the Chega party. about the “big police operation” in Martim Moniz that took place on Monday.

At a meeting of the Lisbon Municipal Assembly, Bruno Mascarenhas linked the operation to the “mafias” operating in Martim Moniz in the context of illegal immigration and expressed regret that the council did not comment on the matter.

In response, adviser Philip Roseta recalled her previous speech on the subject, in which she asked, “Where is the SEF?”

The council is working with entities in the area, it even went to the SEF, said the mayor, referring to the fact that in relation to the operation that took place on Monday, “the judicial police were working”, highlighting the work of the Arroios parish council, which reported the situation to the State Ministry .

“We need to have a functioning Aliens and Border Guards Service,” the adviser complained, lamenting that there are cases where people pay for SEF assistance.

On Monday, the judicial police arrested six people in the Lisbon area as part of an operation to dismantle an illegal immigration criminal organization operating in several European countries.

PSD Municipal MP Carlos Reis said the goal of a safer city requires a shared responsibility in which “the government has more competence”, starting with immigration.

“Where is SEF? We will ask this question as many times as necessary,” the Social Democrat backed up, warning the PS judiciary that “we should not hide our heads in the sand” while advocating the need to work on solving the problem.

MP Bruno Mascarenhas of Chega also mentioned that Sheikh Munir, imam of the Lisbon mosque, said there was a “problem with radical Islam”, challenging independent MP Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition) Miguel Graça. report it to the police.

This follows from a complaint filed by Miguel Graça against Bruno Mascarenhas with the Commission for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination (CICDR) in an intervention that he considered racist and xenophobic.

In response, Miguel Graça recalled that it was the CICDR who decided to forward his complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office (MP), informing Deputy Bruno Mascarenhas that whenever he makes charges, all of them will be sent to the deputy: “I advise you to be careful with your words, because he is under scrutiny in this matter.”

In defense of honor, Cidadãos Por Lisboa MP assured: “I have never advocated radicalization, be it religious or otherwise.”

At the heart of the complaint to CICDR are statements by Bruno Mascarenhas at a meeting on February 14, in which he welcomed the decision to rethink the construction of a mosque in Martim Moniz: “The council realized that it was actually a danger to the city in that there was a problem of radical Islam.”

At a meeting on Tuesday, ENP MP Claudia Madeira asked the council about the reclassification of the Monsanto Panoramic building, which is a municipal heritage, to which Green Structure Councilor Angelo Pereira (PSD) said it was “another very heavy legacy that this Executive Service” in which restoration has a “very high cost”.

Angelo Pereira added that “past budgets have been astronomical”, in the order of 23 million euros, noting that the council is conducting an ongoing assessment of the state of this building in order to determine a solution for its restoration.