Today in Parliament the issue of strengthening AIMA’s resources is being discussed at the request of the PKP.

This Thursday, at the initiative of the PKP, Parliament will discuss four proposals from different parties to strengthen the capacity and resources of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA).

The plenary discussion was organized by the PKP, which intends to discuss its proposal to “address the 400,000 pending relocations that AIMA is responsible for” through an emergency plan that would employ up to 10,000 temporary staff.

In an interview with the Lusa agency, MP António Filipe expressed the PCP’s conviction that “if there is no special programme, especially one with human and material resources and with a fixed implementation deadline, the problem will not be solved and will drag on.”

“The government announced the creation of a mission unit, but did not explain with whom, what and when to do it. And, therefore, this plan does not offer much prospects for a relatively quick solution and it has to be solved,” the communist deputy criticized.

António Filipe stated that he does not expect the government to be present in this debate, admitting that “it is not obliged to be there and usually is not even present” but stating that the party will be sensitive to “the position of the government, the PSD and the CDS on this issue “

This Friday, two draft resolutions sponsored by Livret will be discussed: the Bloc de Esquerda bill and the PCP bill.

The left bloc proposes to unite the sociocultural animators – a figure created in 2001 to cooperate in the integration of immigrants and ethnic minorities – who are currently collaborating with the association within the framework of AIMA.

PCP wants to create a program to hire up to 10,000 staff for AIMA for a period of six months, with the aim of streamlining current residency processes.

Livre’s draft regulations recommend that the government centralize requests for renewal of residence permits at AIMA, expand the functionality of its service portal, and strengthen the capacity of the Labor Conditions Directorate to take into account companies that employ migrant workers.

António Filipe said the party is very positive about the proposals presented by Livre and the Bloc de Esquerda.

A discussion and vote on Chega’s draft resolution on strengthening AIMA’s resources was also scheduled, but it will not be tabled for today’s debate because, as António Filipe explained, the proposal had “completely changed” and the PCP, “as the party author of the planning” considered that “it did not meets the conditions under which the vote will be held tomorrow.”