Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 12^th June 2024

Good morning. We start with “Portugal Day”. The President of the Republic announced that one of the objectives of the Portugal Day celebrations, which began in Pedrógão Grande, is to remember the “double tragedy” of the 2017 fires and protect the future. To journalists, Marcelo stated that the objective of this year’s Portugal Day celebrations “is to draw attention to the double tragedy of June and October 2017”.

The fire that broke out on June 17, 2017 in Pedrógão Grande, in the district of Leiria, and which spread to neighbouring municipalities, caused 66 deaths and more than 250 injuries, seven of which were serious, and destroyed half a thousand homes and 50 businesses.

The official commemoration began on Sunday morning, at the Memorial in Homage to the Victims of the 2017 Forest Fires, with the ceremony of raising the national flag, followed by a tribute to the victims of the 2017 forest fires. In the morning, a mass was held in Figueiró dos Vinhos dedicated to the victims”. We will be covering the 7^th anniversary of the Pedrógão Grande Fire on 17^th June.

Of concern is data from the European drug report released yesterday, that the drug landscape is changing in Europe, with more potent synthetic opioid substances, new mixtures of products and changes in consumption patterns. These changes are causing a growing threat and increasing public health problems, concludes the “European Drug Report 2024 – Trends and Developments”, released today in Lisbon by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

One of the main dangers is the fact that “with poorly sold products (often on the Internet and with adulterated substances), consumers may not be aware of what they are consuming and may be subject to greater health risks, including potentially fatal poisoning,” the report highlights. Disturbing is that at the end of 2023, the EMCDDA was monitoring more than 950 new psychoactive substances, 26 of which were reported for the first time in Europe that year.

Turning to the weather we highlight the incident involving a flight from Palma De Mallorca to Vienna which was damaged when it flew thru a severe hail storm. The flight landed in Vienna at 17:59 CEST after one hour and 59 minutes of flight. No injuries reported. The aircraft sustained significant damage to its nose, windshields, and other forward-facing surfaces due to intense hail strike during the flight. Despite the turbulence and extensive damage, the plane managed to land safely on runway 11 at Vienna International Airport.

We highlight this because intense hailstorms seem to be more frequently occurring and can cause considerable damage and harm. An example yesterday from ESTOFEX Storm Forecast was their report for Romania stating that, the weather “environment is conducive for destructive hail with diameter well above 5 cm”.  If intense hail is forecast then we advise people to be aware and prepared, and take cover as well as protecting property.

The annual Global Peace Index was published yesterday afternoon. Portugal ranks seventh among the safest countries in the world, decreasing one place compared with last year (last year’s placing readjusted from 7th to 6th), and is also the fifth safest country in the European Union. A total of 163 countries surveyed. Of concern however is that according to the Institute for Economics and Peace, there are 56 active conflicts around the world with more than 90 countries involved in cross-border wars that have already forced 110 million people to leave their homes. The world has become less peaceful for the 12th time, with peace deteriorating in more than 90 countries.

Our team from Safe Communities wish you a safe and enjoyable week ahead

News

International police meeting brings together security forces from around the world in Oeiras

Police officers from several countries will exchange experiences at a meeting in Oeiras. Labour rights, artificial intelligence and the decriminalization of drugs in Portugal are among the topics under debate.

Portugal was the country chosen to host the 14th meeting of the International Council for Police Representative Associations, a body representing millions of police officers worldwide.

Between this Tuesday and the 14th, members of the security forces from several countries will debate the main challenges of the class in Paço de Arcos, Oeiras.

Speaking to SIC, Armando Ferreira, president of the National Police Union (SINAPOL) explains that “labour rights, but also matters related to police exchange and police knowledge” will be discussed at this meeting.

For example, at this year’s meeting the national authorities will “explain to all foreign representatives how the decriminalization of drug use works in Portugal”.

Among the topics under discussion will also be the use of artificial intelligence for the police service, the use of electric vehicles and examples of “successes and failures of the police mission”.

Luís Carrilho, national director of the PSP, also highlights an “important initiative” to promote dialogue between unions and police associations from an international point of view.

Asked if this could be a summer of protests and possibly some strikes by the security forces, Luís Carrilho says he trusts the police.

“We are all with a mission spirit, committed to providing a good quality of life in terms of safety for the population who live in Portugal or who choose Portugal to come and spend their holidays.”

 

More potent synthetic substances, new drugs and consumption changes pose growing threat to health

Lisbon, June 11, 2024 (Lusa) – The drug landscape is changing in Europe, with more potent synthetic opioid substances, new mixtures of products and changes in consumption patterns, data from the European drug report reveal.

These changes are causing a growing threat and increasing public health problems, concludes the “European Drug Report 2024 – Trends and Developments”, released today in Lisbon by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

This observatory begins on July 2nd a new mandate with reinforced and more comprehensive powers, given the new challenges that have arisen in the area of trafficking, consumption and new substances.

The document, which presents data from the previous year from the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU), Turkey and Norway, highlights that consumers are more exposed to “a wider range” of psychoactive substances, “often of high potency or purity, or in new forms, mixtures and combinations”.

“With poorly sold products (often on the Internet and with adulterated substances), consumers may not be aware of what they are consuming and may be subject to greater health risks, including potentially fatal poisoning.”

This is the case of heroin, which continues to be the most consumed opioid in Europe and responsible for a “significant part” of health problems, with the European market being “increasingly complex”, with a variety of synthetic substances that are causing concern.

The report highlights concerns around potent synthetic opioids, sometimes misused or mixed with medicines and other drugs, as well as MDMA (ecstasy) adulterated with synthetic cathinones (stimulants) and cannabis products adulterated with synthetic cannabinoids.

At the end of 2023, the EMCDDA was monitoring more than 950 new psychoactive substances, 26 of which were reported for the first time in Europe that year.

A message from this year’s report goes to polydrug consumption: two or more psychoactive substances at the same time or in sequence, often mixed with alcohol.

The growing opioid problem in Europe appears with an “emerging threat” called nitazenes (synthetic opioid 40 times stronger than fentanyl and 140 times more powerful than morphine), which has expanded throughout the world and which has caused last four years more than 200 deaths.

 

 

Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 5^th 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 3^rd/4^th 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 1^st 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.

 

Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 29^th May 2024

Good morning. I hope everyone living in rural areas who need to clean their land has done so, as the fire danger in coming days is the by far the highest so far this year.

In areas where fuel is available, weather plays a pivotal role in determining the risk of fires. Fire danger indices are used to understand how the flammability of a specific region changes in response to weather conditions, and to evaluate the potential spread and intensity of a fire. These indices are calculated from parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, precipitation, the moisture content of potential fuels, and the prevailing weather conditions over the preceding days to months.

In some areas, such as Castelo Branco on 31^st we may see “extreme levels” in indicators which determine the intensity of potential fires by combining the rate of fire spread with the amount of fuel being consumed. This is very important to be aware of as when levels reach 50 or more this means that any fires that get hold will be difficult to supress by traditional means of firefighting, and typically are only done so with the change of weather, such as reduced winds or precipitation.

Turning to water shortages, it was revealed earlier this week, that in the last ten years, around 840 million euros of already treated and unbilled water were wasted by the distribution network, according to June edition of the magazine Deco Proteste, based on data from the regulator ERSAR. In 2022, 162 million cubic meters of water were wasted, warns Deco Proteste, adding up to 88 million euros of unbilled water in one year and around 840 million euros in ten years, according to data from the Water and Water Services Regulatory Authority. Waste (ERSAR).

Alerting to the urgent need to rehabilitate the water supply infrastructure at national level, which is aging and subject to increasing water losses and supply failures, it was found that 87 municipalities, of the 278 municipalities on the continent, with increases in real losses of water, and 161 with reduction. So when the government and municipalities consider longer term solution such as desalination for instance, this will be of limited use, should the water subsequently we wasted en-route to users through leaking pipes!

Lastly a thank you for all those who visited us at the São Brás Museu do Traje, Spring Fair 2024 held last Sunday. Great weather and company.

Plenty of visitors and many enquiries covering land cleaning, wells, crime prevention, work of Safe Communities, emergency medical card, contact information for emergencies and sharing of experiences. We thank our team, Jane, Antonia, Mike and Karen and David for their help and support. We also thank the organisers for such a well-attended and enjoyable community event.

Turning to crime prevention. PSP has announced an increase in burglaries inside residences through deception. Preferred targets are elderly, or especially vulnerable, people who live alone or in isolated homes. Suspects try to trick victims through a cover story to gain access.  Don’t open the door to strangers, don’t be misled by the presence of children and have emergency contacts in easy-accessible places. If you notice anything unusual contact PSP immediately! For those in rural areas call the GNR or in an emergency 112

Our team at Safe Communities wish you all a safe and happy week ahead.

News

Russian hackers attack in Spain during Zelensky’s visit. Portugal could be the next target

Pro-Putin ‘hacktivists’ illegally accessed the websites of the regional Parliament and the Madrid Metro, as well as video surveillance camera systems, during the Ukrainian president’s visit to that country. Portugal may suffer similar attacks

At least three groups of ‘hacktivists’ defending Vladimir Putin’s government claimed computer attacks in Spain during Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit last Monday.

On Tuesday Russian President Vladimir Putin considered that the only legitimate power in Ukraine now belongs to the Ukrainian parliament and not the President, claiming that Volodymyr Zelensky’s term ended on May 20.

“The Ukrainian Constitution provides for the extension of powers, but only for the Rada [Parliament], and does not say anything about the extension of the President’s powers,” Putin said at the end of a visit to Uzbekistan.

Putin acknowledged that Ukrainian law prohibits holding presidential elections while martial law is in force, but said this does not mean that the functions of the current head of state are automatically expanded.

“The Constitution [of Ukraine] says nothing about this,” he said, insisting that “in fact, presidential functions have passed to the head of the Ukrainian Parliament.”

GNR inspected around 1.9 million people at maritime borders in six months

Lisbon, May 27 (Lusa) – The GNR inspected around 1.9 million people at maritime borders between October 29 and the end of April, mainly for tourist visits, the corporation announced today.

The Republican National Guard today took stock of the six months in which it assumed responsibility for controlling maritime and land borders with the extinction of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) on October 29, 2023.

In a statement, the GNR states that, in six months, around 1.9 million people who entered and left the country on 8,100 vessels were controlled, with special emphasis on cruise ships, with the ports of Lisbon and Funchal recording the largest number of entries.

The GNR also reports that, between October 29, 2023 and the end of April this year, it carried out more than 1.1 million administrative procedures at border posts related to the issuance of visas, licenses to come ashore and licenses to access to the international zone.

In the same period, the GNR’s territorial immigration inspection centers carried out more than 300 operations throughout the country, aimed especially at the agriculture, industry and services sectors, during which they inspected the status of around 9,500 foreigners.

According to the GNR, the districts where the most operations were carried out were Lisbon, Porto, Faro and Santarém, with “special priority” being given to entries at the Vila Formoso and Caia borders, where several violations of the foreigner’s law were recorded.

The main administrative offenses detected by the Guard soldiers were related to the lack of declaration of entry into national territory (324).

The GNR also detained six people for illegally staying in Portugal.

 

Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 22^nd May 2024

 

Good morning. Anything that helps in improving the forecasting rural fires is good news! So we therefore welcome the IPMA’s announcement yesterday that they have reinforced its meteorological device for the rural fire season of 2024, with the entry into operation of two new double polarized weather radars and two new meteorological stations installed in Coruche and Loulé and also, 2 new ray detectors installed in Olhão and in Viana do Castelo.

This equipment will make it possible to improve the surveillance and overall forecasting of rural fire danger and local weather conditions on the fire front, particularly during pyro cumulus cloud formation and potential ignitions generated by electrical discharges.

Added to that radar information operation terminals have also been installed at Faro, Cascais, Lisbon and Porto Airports which serve as workstations complementary to the national forest fire monitoring system – and in addition to the Operational Centre at IPMA headquarters – a closer support at the theatres of operation.

In the presentation of DECIR (the operational rural fire plan for this year) for this year, the president of ANEPC highlighted that this “is a collective effort of the operatives” who are part of it, but also of all citizens, as everyone, “within the scope of active citizenship”, are “truly, civil protection agents”. This is an important statement, in effect reminding us all that everyone has a roll to play in preventing fires.

Emphasising this further Duarte da Costa added that “the critical success factors of this system are prevention and awareness campaigns”, stressing that “the fire campaign is not won through fighting, but through prevention”.

In this regard, he listed the “permanent monitoring of risk assessments and their impact on the territory, pre-positioning and preventive mobilization of means and resources” and “early detection, as early as possible, supported by an increasingly broad collaborative approach to surveillance and all technical surveillance capabilities”.

The above has to be the priority because if we everyone has greater awareness and are more prepared, then the number of ignitions will be reduced. With weather conditions becoming more extreme with extended periods in some areas with very little or no rain, when fires do start then the potential is that they will burn with greater intensity and cover larger areas. When these reach extreme/critical levels this means that it becomes difficult if not impossible for fires to be suppressed by traditional means of fire-fighting, and it relies on the timely arrival of rain, reduction of winds, or other changes of weather to bring such fires to a conclusion – a frightening thought!  This is a reason which mega-fires can burn for extended periods covering several days or even weeks which we have seen in Australia, USA and Canada for example.

As we did in 2022 and 2023 we will be sharing fire danger and risk forecasts, with explanations on a daily basis – please read these so you can be prepared.

Have a good week ahead.

 

News

Reporting desk wants to give visibility to the problems of immigrants and refugees,

Lisbon, May 21, 2024 (Lusa) – A reporting desk for immigrants and refugees opens today on the internet, aimed at reporting problems and abuses in order to give visibility to the most serious situations.

“We have felt the need for this project for some time, because we have come into contact with some situations, some occurrences among the migrant and refugee population in Portugal, which they do not find answers at the level of structures”, Raul Manarte, from the Humans Before collective, told Lusa Borders (HuBB), which is part of the project.

The objective of the project, which also includes groups of migrants and refugees and students from the Porto Higher Education School, is therefore to “increase the social visibility” of the problems among the population and the media, he added.

Each “refugee can leave their complaint, their account of what happened” and the “main objective is to compile this information and process it in an assertive way so that it can be accessible” to anyone who is interested.

The quantitative data “will be public” and the information will be anonymous, but individual reports will be made available on a case-by-case basis to the authorities or to anyone who has the right to request them.

The portal address – balcaodenuncia.pt – will be published on the social media pages of the associations that organize the project and the form will be accessible in Portuguese, English, Arabic, Farsi, Hindi, Urdu, Ukrainian and Nepali.

The project, the promoters maintain, “intends to overcome accessibility barriers and collect, compile and disseminate occurrences of abuse, mistreatment, neglect or general non-compliance through online reports”.

The desk wants to “compile the complaints received and transform them into public data” through social networks and collaboration with the media, to allow “civil society to have a more accurate vision of the difficulties that the migrant and refugee population experiences in Portugal”.

Furthermore, this data “could be used in civic action campaigns, pressuring structures or decision-makers to take concrete steps that allow the reduction or eradication of verified occurrences”, say the promoters.

“In parallel, an exhibition will be opened in Póvoa de Varzim, with a portrait of 12 migrants and refugees here in Portugal, who are also co-creators of this counter”, explained Raul Manarte.

The exhibition “Us and Them”, consisting of portraits of migrants and refugees in Portugal, to be opened at the Municipal Archives.

The Website, in Portuguese and English, was formed today and is at: http://balcaodenuncia.pt/

 

More than 51 thousand hospitalized patients in 2023 were at nutritional risk

 

 

Lisbon, May 20, 2024 (Lusa) – More than 51 thousand hospitalized patients in 2023 were at nutritional risk, that is, 28% of patients screened, and less than half (48%) were intervened in the first 24 hours after being signalled, data from the Directorate-General for Health.

The data is contained in the Annual Report of the National Program for the Promotion of Healthy Eating (PNPAS) 2023 of the DGS, released today, which monitors nutritional risk, that is, the risk of morbidity and mortality due to nutritional status, in hospitals of the National Health Service ( SNS).

Of the 181,019 hospitalized patients who underwent nutritional screening last year, 51,238 (28.3%) were at nutritional risk, says the report, adding that the average percentage of patients assessed was 31.2% in 2023, from 29.2% in 2022 and 27.4% in 2021.

According to the data, around 48% of patients at nutritional risk underwent nutritional intervention in the first 24 hours after the warning and 69.4% of adult patients at nutritional risk underwent nutritional intervention.

Commenting on these data to the Lusa agency, the director of PNPAS, Maria João Gregório, stated that the percentage of patients identified as being at nutritional risk (28.3%) is consistent with what is described in the studies.

The nutritionist explained that malnutrition is often associated with the disease.

On the other hand, he stated, “a large percentage of the hospital population is elderly and malnutrition is also more prevalent in these population groups and, therefore, these numbers are more or less in line with what is described in the literature”.