The Ombudsman’s office received four complaints about the actions of the boards in relation to migrants

The ombudsman’s office has received four complaints about the actions of parish councils, which have a “significant component” related to the rights of migrants, an official source in the organization told Lusa.

The complaints concern parish councils in different geographical regions of the country, and not just in Lisbon, the ombudsman’s source said.

Lusa questioned the body after it emerged that the Arroyos parish council in Lisbon was refusing to issue residence certificates to immigrants from countries outside the European Union without a valid Portuguese residence permit.

This is a notice signed by the President of the Parish Council of Arroios, Madalena Natividade (elected on the list of the Novos Tempos coalition, PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança).

The notice, dated 9 February, said the council had started requiring a valid residence permit (to rent or buy a home) to issue residence certificates to foreign nationals outside the EU, despite the law stating that the certificate was evidence of two registered individuals. in the parish or a declaration of honor from the person requesting the document is sufficient.

In its response to Lusa, the Ombudsman’s Office acknowledges the four complaints, but emphasizes that they are not limited to the issuance of residence certificates, as they are “based on knowledge of very different practices”, even though the rights of migrants are “essential”. component”.

In light of the complaints, the organization decided to undertake a “wider review of the exercise of the certifying powers of parish councils and their legal framework.”

The certificate case led to a hundred people demonstrating on April 19 in front of the Junta de Arroyos, a parish home to citizens of dozens of nationalities, many of them in dangerous situations.

“The residence certificate is not only required as part of the regularization process in the Portuguese state: it is a necessary document for registration at a health center, for opening an account in most Portuguese banks and for registration in schools,” the organizations emphasized. who called for protest, including Casa do Brasil, Habita and SOS Racismo.

The collectives are concerned about the repetition of this measure in other places, noting that the councils of Campanhão (Porto), Beato (Lisbon), Caparica and Laranjeiro (both in Almada) have already “taken the path of making the possibility of regularization almost impossible and the well-being of the migrant.”

Earlier, the actions of the Junta de Arroios caused a protest by dozens of doctors, nurses and social workers of the local health department of São José, one of the most important in the center of Lisbon.

The Junta de Arroyos “further exacerbates the already great hardships this community faces every day by creating unnecessary barriers that run counter to universal access to health care,” they criticized the measure, deeming the measure “offensive.”

The Certificate of Residence is an important document that guarantees appropriate contributions and user fees to people in an irregular situation, including vulnerable groups such as children and pregnant women.

Then, when questioned by Lusa, the president of the Arroios parish council, Madalena Natividade, responded in writing that she was obliged to “strictly comply” with the law within the framework of her legal duties and powers, which included “being” prohibited from issuing documents containing statements and other decisions that do not comply current legislation.”

According to the council chief, before issuing a residence certificate, the municipality is “obliged” to “require the applicant to provide evidence that he is in fact and legally the holder of a valid residence permit.”

The decision to restrict access to residence certificates for some parishes was contested by the previous Socialist government and representatives of the PS, BE and CDU in the Arroyos parish.

Asked by Lusa on March 22, the Lisbon city council, led by Carlos Moedas, who led the Novos Tempos coalition that also elected council president Arroios, said it had “no comment on this matter.”

In an opinion published in March, the National Association of Parishes (Anafre) argued that the issuance of residence certificates by parishes to foreign nationals does not require the presentation of any residence permit, since it is not the responsibility of these local authorities to assess legality. immigrants remaining in the country.