The Portuguese authorities on the first weekend of the restoration of documentary control at the borders as part of World Youth Day (WYD) took control of more than 163 thousand people, preventing 65 people from entering the country.
Documentary control at air, sea and land borders under the WYD came into force on Saturday and is carried out selectively and purposefully based on information and risk analysis.
According to the operational balance released on Monday in a statement from the Internal Security Service, 13,461 people were checked at land borders and 149,838 passengers at air borders in the first two days.
As part of the operation, 65 people were denied entry, of which 52 tried to reach Portugal by land and 13 by air.
At air borders, the Aliens and Border Guard Service monitored 885 flights, the vast majority of which were outside the Schengen area, made two arrests for forgery and applied precautionary measures in 41 cases.
During the course of 27 verification activities during the day, with the participation of 289 employees of the National Guard (NGD), 25 offenses in the field of land border control were detected, two crimes were detected, three seizures were made and one person was detained.
Information released this Monday also indicates that GNR monitored 2,380 vehicles, two trains and seven boats over the weekend.
The State Emergency Service at land borders checked 2,122 vehicles and 7,392 citizens, applying precautionary measures in two cases.
The replacement of documentary control at the borders will be valid until 00:00 on August 7 and takes place “as an exception in order to protect against any threats to public order and internal security,” according to a government decree.
Border control under the WYD, an event to be held in Lisbon from 1 to 6 August and in which Pope Francis will participate, is administered by the Foreigners and Border Guards Service (SEF) with the assistance of the Public Security Police (PSP) and the GNR, in addition to the possible cooperation of authorities from other countries.