Nearly 1,300 East Timorese remain in Portugal, including some 200 who arrived at dawn, the Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Affairs said, noting that it was a “humanitarian issue.”
Ana Catarina Mendes recalled that Ana Catarina Mendes recalled that in order to address the Committee on Budget and Finance on the state budget for 2023 and ask several MPs questions about the state of affairs regarding the various Timorese who arrived in Portugal, Ana Catarina Mendes recalled that she brought up the subject herself. , in September to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees.
In recent months, “about 5,000 Timorese have arrived in Portugal” and about 4,000 have left, the official said.
“About 1,073 East Timorese remain in Portugal, to which we must add the approximately 198 people who arrived in Portugal this morning,” the minister said.
Ana Catarina Mendez also added that among these almost 1,300 citizens, 865 are Timorese who arrived in Portugal but did not seek support from any authorities, namely the High Commissioner for Migration (ACM), “who is the first to give an answer to these people.”
On the other hand, he said that 542 Timorese are in “decent housing” while the rest remain in “less deserving” solutions such as collective housing or youth hostels.
The minister took the opportunity to stress that “this is a humanitarian problem” and that “it is unacceptable for the government to have labor exploitation networks in decent condition.”
“And we will not allow this,” he assured, adding that the authorities were taking action.
On this occasion, he said that the Working Conditions Authority (ACT) “was immediately mobilized” to understand where and under what conditions Timorese citizens are working, by raising the relevant records and applying sanctions, although he did not specify how many or to whom.
He also recalled that an interdepartmental working group was created “to give the answer that is required from these people.”
“The problem is of a humanitarian nature and during these months we have not stopped responding to those who arrive here and cannot,” he emphasized, adding that several municipalities were involved in the search for a solution for admission, namely Fundao, Lisbon, Almada , Alcobaça, Serpa, Beja and Torres Vedras.
PKP MP Alma Rivera accused the government of “an irresponsible attitude when it declared a few months ago that human trafficking was not a problem in the country.”
“You have devalued the real issue at the moment to now acknowledge that it is actually a very deep issue,” he said.
In her response, Ana Catarina Mendez denied ever devaluing the situation.
“You will never hear me discount human trafficking. In September I said that we were doing an assessment and there was no report at the time. Don’t let me now say that human trafficking exists and therefore I consider it irresponsible [falar de tráfico] until the authorities do their job,” he stressed.
Regarding the responses to the reception about human trafficking, the official said that until September 30, 2022, 10 children and adolescents were accepted, of which four were victims of sexual exploitation, and the remaining six were with “unknown exploitation”.
“And in our centers for the reception and protection of victims, there are five structures across the country for 48 places, which until September 2022 received 42 people: 29 victims of labor exploitation, three of sexual exploitation, two of violent crime and eight of servitude. …or beg,” he said.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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