More than 253,000 people under control and 52 denied entry into the country

The Portuguese authorities have taken control of more than 253 thousand people since the beginning of the restoration of documentary controls at the borders as part of World Youth Day (WYD), preventing 52 people from entering the country.

Documentary control at land, air and sea borders under the WYD came into force on Saturday and is carried out selectively and purposefully based on information and risk analysis.

In the first three days, 18,640 people were monitored at land borders, 229,078 passengers at air borders, and 5,580 passengers and crew at maritime borders, according to the operational balance released on Tuesday, the Homeland Security Service said in a statement.

On Monday alone, the SEF controlled more than 79,000 people at the air borders.

As part of the operation, 52 people were denied entry, of whom 34 tried to reach Portugal by land and 18 by air.

At air borders, the Aliens and Border Guards Service monitored 1,337 flights, the vast majority of which were outside the Schengen area, made three arrests, two for forgery and one national with an arrest warrant who was arrested on arrival from Frankfurt. He also applied precautionary measures on 43 occasions.

Since Saturday, in 42 inspections involving 456 agents, the National Guard (NGD) has committed 31 land border offenses, identified a crime, made four seizures and detained two people.

Information released on Tuesday also indicates that the GNR controlled 3,077 vehicles, four trains and eight ships in the first three days of the restoration of documentary controls at the borders.

Land border security forces checked 2,840 vehicles and took control of 9,992 citizens, taking precautionary measures on three occasions.

At maritime borders, the SEF controlled 266 ships.

Information on Operation World Youth Day 2023 includes on Tuesday information on the activities of the Public Security Police (PSP), which made 75 arrests during the day on Monday, 18 of which were for driving without a license, another 18 for drug trafficking, 10 for drunk driving, six for robbery and robbery, and one for holding or dealing illegal weapons.

The PSP seized a total of 13 weapons and 965 doses of drugs, and registered 146 accidents in traffic accidents.

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.