Researcher advocates stopping expressions of interest in immigrants in Portugal

Researcher Gonzalo Matias argued that the government should review entry rules for immigrants, ending expressions of interest, and proposes a system similar to that already practiced in Canada or Germany.

“Portugal, in my opinion, is not experiencing an immigration crisis, but a crisis of immigration policies and institutions that deal with immigration,” because the number of immigrants in the country is “perfectly consistent with the European norm,” he told Luca Gonçalo. Mathias, who was Secretary of State for this sector in the PSD/SDS government in 2015, which lasted only 27 days.

“For me, the big problem, besides the collapse of institutions and the failure to respond, the big problem in the law is with so-called expressions of interest,” a legal resource that arrivals can request, even with a tourist visa.

In this expression of interest, immigrants can mention that they are looking for work, and it is this resource that is responsible for the large influx of cases being processed by the Portuguese authorities.

“Expressions of interest have allowed many people to enter Portugal, some without proper documentation, with poorly instructed processes,” which “has also facilitated the work of clandestine human trafficking networks that manage to take advantage of these loopholes in the law to attract people illegally and take advantage of their vulnerability.” , he explained.

Excluding cases that still need to be resolved, Portugal is home to 800,000 immigrants, and “that’s not very large compared to Europe,” the university professor said.

He said the announced closure of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) had taken a long time and there had been a “very slow transition” to the new organization regulating the entry of immigrants, the Agency for Integration, Migration and Migration. Asylum (AIMA): “This has led to the collapse of our institutions and an inability to cope with the increase in immigration that we have seen over the past few years.”

There are currently 400,000 pending cases in the country, which “represents a serious problem for the country.” on the other hand, putting at risk the perception of security on the part of Portuguese citizens,” said the Catholic University professor.

The expert does not advocate quotas, but other solutions to attract foreign labor.

“Portugal really needs labor,” said Gonçalo Matias, citing tourism or the agricultural sector as examples. But this is only possible if there is a “functioning, controlled and regulated migration system.”

First, he argued that pending processes should be completed in a timely manner, and then follow international examples such as the “Canadian points system, now replicated by Germany for skilled workers.” This model evaluates each immigrant candidate’s resume and allows entry based on the country’s needs.

“This has nothing to do with quotas, it does not impose numerical restrictions, but it identifies areas where there is the greatest need and announces those areas,” he explained.

In the long term, the researcher calls for a national consensus on this issue, taking into account the demographic crisis and demographic deficit of the country, with a “working humanistic system.”

Today in Portugal we see an anti-immigrant and xenophobic discourse, but Gonçalo Matias said that this situation is the result of global trends, “as the issue was at the top of the political agenda in other countries” and there were “some contagions”.

Added to this was a “significant increase in the number of immigrants” and this became visible to public opinion.

However, the topic should be treated “strictly, especially from a factual point of view, and not feed unfounded fears” or “myths that have no basis in existence,” he added.