The president of the Immigrant Solidarity association accused the government of betrayal this Monday by approving the Migration Action Plan and assured that he would fight to prevent it from entering into force.
“I think this government’s immigration plan was a betrayal of the solidarity and humanistic spirit of the Portuguese people,” criticized Timoteo Macedo.
This Monday, the government presented the Migration Action Plan, which, among 41 planned measures, includes the end of the so-called expression of interest procedure, which allowed a foreigner to enter Portugal and only then apply for a residence permit.
From now on, a foreigner with a tourist visa will no longer be able to regulate his status in Portugal by requiring an employment contract or other solution previously applied in the Portuguese consular network.
The repeal of articles 88 and 89 of the Foreigners Act, which allowed the legalization of foreign tourists in Portugal, will be followed by a “revision of the law.” [geral] at Parliament Headquarters” in the coming months.
According to Timoteo Macedo, it is “unacceptable” to end this regime, denying that it was exceptional, as the government claims, and pointing out that “it is a common occurrence resulting from immigration law.”
“This happened normally, with all the norms, so there is no point in stopping expressions of interest at the initiative of foreign citizens who treat the Portuguese state in good faith,” he said.
For the person in charge, this is a “betrayal of what was being done” and a “betrayal of the struggle of the immigrants” who “fought hard” for the regularization process.
“This plan is a disaster, a huge failure,” he said.
Regarding the consular network, he noted that there was a lack of facilities and a shortage of human resources, which had forced embassies to hire “temporary placement companies” to carry out consular work.
He stressed that Portugal needs and will continue to need “many more immigrants” and warned that these changes in the law would be “food for an unprecedented mafia”, especially the white collar mafia, predicting that “many contracts will be awarded without [os imigrantes] be present.”
Timoteo Macedo recalled that in the past other governments tried to introduce a quota regime, which was rejected even by the “former national director of SEF.” [Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras] “, who “came out to say that it’s impossible to hire people you don’t know anywhere, who don’t know if they’re competent in their profession.”
Thus, the President of Solidariedade Imigrate understands that this new regime will contribute to the development of human trafficking networks and will contribute to an increase in the exploitation of slaves.
On the other hand, he acknowledged his disappointment, saying he believed the action plan would “essentially resolve the outstanding issues, which are not 400,000, but many more.”
He argued that the operating conditions of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) needed to be addressed, especially in terms of human resources, IT materials and organization.
He also stated that “immigrants will be disappointed” and that the association will be attentive, leaving guarantees that Solidariedade Iculturale will fight for non-compliance with the new legislation.
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.