The mayor of Lisbon considered this Friday “serious” and “very difficult” the current situation of homeless people in the city, “more than half” of whom are foreigners, reinforcing the need for an immigration policy that promotes dignity.
“We must say loud and clear that we are an open city, we want to welcome people, but we need a decent immigration policy for these people,” defended Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas (PSD).
Speaking on the sidelines of the opening of the Alcantara health centre, Lisbon’s mayor said the city’s homeless problem had worsened since the Covid-19 pandemic, admitting that “the situation is very difficult”.
“Now, when we talk about homeless people who have nowhere to go, we’re talking about 300, a little over 300. When we talk about people who don’t have a home but who we welcome, we’re talking about over 3,000. These are the numbers for this Friday, but it is clear that the situation is serious,” said Carlos Moedas.
At the new health center in Alcantara, “about 34%” of the 15,700 registered users are foreigners of 119 different nationalities, reflecting the fact that Lisbon is “a city of diversity and an open city,” the Social Democrat noted.
“So we really emphasize the need to have an immigration policy that helps people, that gives them dignity, because we have many of these people, more than half, are foreigners, and many of them are undocumented, they don’t have family, they don’t have support, so all this must also be taken into account,” he said.
The mayor of Lisbon said that the current municipal leader has invested “more than before in helping the homeless,” highlighting the municipality’s plan in this area for the next seven years, from 2024 to 2030, which calls for investments of “€70 million.” “.
“Today we were able to help and accommodate about 1,050 people, and our plan is to increase the number of people we can help to 1,700,” he emphasized.
The mayor also recalled the opening of the municipal pavilion of Casal Vistoso from January 9 to 14 to welcome people left homeless due to the cold weather, noting that the municipality was able to “help almost half [das pessoas acolhidas] find solutions” to stop living on the streets.
“We have housing solutions for these people. We have shelter solutions for these people and, above all, council services. If there is a municipal service that works very well, I would say that it is a service for the homeless, because they are professionals who know these people practically by name,” emphasized Carlos Moedas.
Between Gar do Oriente train station and Cais de Sodré station, which runs through Rossio, in Lisbon, tents and small cardboard sheds crowd together, with more immigrants than Portuguese living on the streets.
All the homeless immigrants Lusa approached this week were undocumented, although some had left work in Alentejo.
They come from Brazil, India, Nepal, Morocco, Gambia, Senegal, Angola and many other countries, some can only communicate in English, and although life in Lisbon is not going well for them, especially with the wind and rain in winter, few they want to return to their countries because they believe that they will work and organize their lives here.
For now, they live thanks to the help of organizations such as Comunidade Vida e Paz, one of the most representative organizations supporting homeless people.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.