Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 5th June 2024
Good morning everyone. On Monday the Council of Ministers debated and adopted the Government’s action plan for migration, which aims to correct the serious problems inherited in the entry rules into Portugal, to resolve the more than 400 thousand outstanding issues, to ensure the operability of border control systems and dignity and humanism in the integration of immigrants.
The plan is based on the principles that Portugal needs immigrants for demographic, social and economic reasons, but this immigration must be regulated and monitored, accompanied by humanist integration and a proactive approach to attracting foreign talent. The action plan, has four axes of action (I) regulated immigration, (II) attraction of foreign talent, (III) human integration that works and (IV) institutional reorganization.
The decree-law that changes the legal regime for the entry, stay, exit and repatriation of foreigners from national territory, revokes the residence permit instruments based on the mere expression of interest, safeguarding, however, the situation of foreign citizens who have already initiated procedures residence permit under the present law.
This is a far reaching piece of legislation which came into mediate effect on midnight Monday/Tuesday 3rd/4th June. There are 41 measures listed within these four axes. What is important however is the fact that it safeguards, the situation of foreign citizens who have already initiated procedures residence permit under the present law. It is important to resolve the serious back lock of 400 thousand outstanding issues. Action plan in English here:
action-plan-for-migration-learn-about-the-main-measures
Turning to the weather. A cold air drop will move in the coming days, approaching the Mainland. This situation is forecast to cause changes in the weather on the Mainland. At an early stage (Thursday and Friday), this system will be responsible for sending the Sahara dust. In a second phase, its approach will cause instability, with possible heavy showers and thunderstorms. If the phases overlap we can expect mud rain. We are monitoring closely.
We have published several times in the past “fake accident scams” where the victim is approached by someone in a car park claiming that the person had had damaged his car by reversing into it from a parking bay. The person demands money for repairs and the demand can be quite threatening if not handed over in cash at the time. These people move between different car parks in the Algarve and we are aware of at least one occasion that the culprit had young children in his car!
We posted on Tuesday an example where the victim was an elderly lady and the culprit used a white powder on the bumper of his car and on hers, to try and simulate that an accident had taken place, whereas in fact it had not. The culprit eventually left not however before frightening the lady concerned. If this happens to you do not pay, and say you are calling the police whereupon the person concerned will normally leave quickly!
Lastly a reminder that the government has made it clear that when the fire risk is high do not burn cut and piled waste. This and extensive burns are responsible for over 50% of fires, resulting from becoming out of control. From 1st June regardless of the fire risk you need to obtain Authorisation from your city council and this will not be approved when the risk is high. In fact many municipalities have introduced blanked bans over the coming months. Remember a small spark can cause a very large fire!
Our team at Safe Communities wishes you a safe and happy week ahead
News
INEM admits delays in service, 50 calls were (simultaneously) on hold
Calls to Urgent Patient Guidance Centers have increased in recent days, overloading a service that operates with a shortage of professionals. This situation resulted in a delay of between 10 and 15 minutes in service.
In recent days, there have been serious delays in answering calls to 112. The situation was reported by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. There were periods with around 50 calls on hold, which could compromise timely assistance to the population.
INEM has already acknowledged the delays in responding to aid. Calls to Urgent Patient Guidance Centers have increased in recent days, overloading a service that operates with a ‘deficit’ of professionals. This situation resulted in a delay of between 10 and 15 minutes in service.
“We were aware that yesterday there were 50 calls on hold for long periods of the day (…)”, denounces Paulo Paço, from the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians.
In addition to the shortage of professionals, INEM officials link this increase in the number of calls to high temperatures, but the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians points out other problems: obsolete screening and failures in the communications chain.
Queues and pending processes remain at AIMA, a scenario repeated in Lisbon and Porto
The long queue at AIMA in Porto leaves no room for doubt as to the immigrants’ anxiety about having the processes completed.
Márcia Nunes arrived at 22:00, stayed the night by the door, and even got first place but it didn’t do her much good. “I left without a response. They are only regularizing those who demonstrated until April 30th”, explains Márcia.
And the problems continue. Those waiting despair due to the long delays and lack of information. “I’m here today because of my nationality situation. I asked for documents, two years and seven months have passed and I still haven’t received them”, says a Russian immigrant.
“That’s what you see out there. People without assistance, god damn it, without documents, without the slightest purpose”, adds a Brazilian immigrant.
To try to resolve these situations, the Government presented a new plan for migration that highlights the end of expressions of interest, a rule that some are welcome.
“So that people don’t come to Portugal illegally. There are many situations throughout the country where many immigrants do not have a work contract and this also causes a lot of tension and social problems”, comments a Portuguese man.
Along with AIMA in Lisbon, the same measure is criticized. “First he has to draw up a work contract for which he doesn’t even know if he is qualified for that activity”, says Ricardo Amaral, president of the Association of Brazilians in Portugal.
Concerns that extend to family reunification processes.
“I went to an immigrant support institution and they were the ones who made the appointment. We didn’t have any response from AIMA”, says an Angolan immigrant.
There are almost half a million cases pending and despite the current lack of human resources, the government guarantees that they will all be regularized.
19.9 tons of waste collected in the Queima das Fitas procession in Coimbra
Coimbra, 03 June 2024 (Lusa) – Coimbra City Council collected 19.9 tonnes of waste in the Queima das Fitas procession, an amount that was entirely sent for recycling, the municipality reported today.
This year, “it was possible to send all (100%) of the waste for recovery, increasing recycling by 12.9 tons, compared to 2023 (at the time, seven tons of the 10.4 tons of waste were recycled)”, stated the Chamber in a note sent to the Lusa agency.
According to the municipality, of the 19.9 tons of waste collected during the procession, which took place on May 26th, packaging (19.56 tons), especially canned beverage packaging, which was the majority, to which are added 340 kilos of glass.
The garbage collection and street cleaning operation was carried out immediately after the passage of the student floats, between the upper and lower parts of the city, and involved 70 workers, nine vehicles, with different functionalities, and more than a dozen of complementary technical means.
“In addition, a waste collection system was set up at the end of the procession, before the cars were dismantled, within the cars themselves, provided by the City Council”, he added.