Future law foresees year and a half detention for illegal immigrants in Portugal
The new regime for deporting foreigners, approved by the cabinet on Thursday, will now undergo a month of public consultation before being re-examined by the government and submitted to parliament.
The government wants to extend the detention period in centres for illegal immigrants to around a year and a half, compared to the current two months, while the process of deporting them to their country of origin is underway.
According to the weekly newspaper Expresso, the new regime for deporting foreigners, approved by the cabinet on Thursday, will now undergo a month of public consultation before being re-examined by the government and submitted to parliament.
The bill, to which Expresso had access, provides that the 60 days of stay in Temporary Installation Centres (CIT) or Equivalent Spaces (EECIT) during expulsion proceedings will be extended “to 180 days, with the possibility of an extension for a further 180 days and even more 180 days for the execution of the deportation, in line with the European legal framework and the recommendations of the latest Schengen evaluation”.
This summer, for example, a group of around 30 migrants arrived illegally in Portugal via the Algarve coast and, after the two-month deadline for analysing and concluding the return procedures had passed, they were released, and then they allegedly travelled to Spain.
The government also wants to eliminate the 20 days provided for the Notification for Voluntary Departure (NAV), as it is a redundant procedure and incompatible with the obligation to ensure immediate coercive deportation, the document reads.
The minister of cabinet affairs, Leitão Amaro, stressed on Thursday that the new regime will allow for “balanced regulation”, in line with “moderation and respect for human rights”, preserving the rights of defence, appeal, proportionality, legal aid and greater protection for the most vulnerable, such as minors.
Leitão Amaro also said that full protection of the principle of non-refoulement is planned for countries where people may be persecuted.
The member of the government led by Luís Montenegro also said that the government will not have “preferential partners” for political dialogue on the return regime, but assured that the government’s proposal is not “for radicals, neither one nor the other”.
