The Police Trade Union Association (ASPP/PSP) warned this Thursday of the “very serious situation” facing the PSP security unit at Lisbon Airport due to the restructuring of the Aliens and Borders Service.
The trade union structure, in a statement sent to the Lusa agency, emphasizes that “the process of restructuring the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) and empowering the PSP must be accompanied by the necessary resources”, since “the situation is at the limit of the process.”
As part of the restructuring of the SEF, which was delayed until the creation of the Portuguese Agency for Migration and Asylum (APMA), the police powers of this body were transferred to the PSP, GNR and PJ, while the current administrative duties in relation to foreign nationals are currently carried out by the APMA and the Institute of Registries and Notaries.
The Union Association of Police Professionals believes that “the management of this process is completely inappropriate and causes daily security restrictions at the Lisbon airport.”
“Police officers who are diverted from their mission to SEF services assign operational responsibility to the PSP on the spot. PSP professionals are assigned to other services and trained against their will. Several invitations were made to the airport security department, which did not fill the existing gaps. The unattractiveness of the function is connected with the meager and different remuneration for those who perform identical functions, to which the disappearance of allowances is added,” the trade union said in a statement.
The ASPP/PSP reports that many professionals working in the airport security department (DSA) have already asked to leave, but their requests have been denied.
“This is a routine reality that people face at DSA. PSP specialists do not have the gift of omnipresence – they cannot be in two or more places at the same time,” the structure emphasizes, adding that “answers to questions were asked by the ASPP / PSP – through various professions – to insist on non-attendance, this union does not know the reasons for this absence “.
The decision to restructure the SEF was made by the previous government and approved by the Assembly of the Republic in November 2021, but has already been postponed twice.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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