“Basically, it seems to be a kind of electoral promise in the competition for votes with the far-right, about which the minister gives us very little information on how it will be fulfilled,” stated Rui Tavares during a visit to the Afurada Market in Vila Nova de Gaia, in the Porto district.
The spokesperson for Livre, who launched the party’s campaign for the legislative elections on Friday night in Porto, was reacting to statements made by the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro. Today, the minister confirmed that the Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum (AIMA) will begin notifying 4,574 foreign citizens next week to voluntarily leave the country within 20 days.
According to the government official, this marks the first group of immigrants to be notified out of a total of 18,000 rejections.
“It is a statement made in the name of the Government for something that will not be accomplished during this Government’s tenure, which, moreover, is in a caretaker capacity,” critiqued Rui Tavares.
Leitão Amaro warned that this measure is part of an “initial set of decisions,” with an additional 110,000 cases “still to be decided,” which will result in “more rejections and more notifications.”
Carmen Guilherme | 10:26 – 03/05/2025
The Livre spokesperson considered this moment as “a Government currently using state communication and state resources in accordance with the partisan conveniences of the PSD.”
“It is necessary for people, when seeing PSD and Government communications, mixed with each other, to realize these actions have merely electoral campaign value,” he stressed.
Rui Tavares remarked that the PSD has consistently used the immigration issue, which is integral to Portugal’s economy and society.
“Even if we take seriously the Government’s figures, the approximately 4,500 immigrants to be deported in the first phase, we must also seriously consider the 1.6 million immigrants residing in the country, contributing legally, respectfully, and orderly to our society,” he underscored.
In his opinion, utilizing immigration concerns as a means to foster distrust, prejudice, and hatred is detrimental, and the Democratic Alliance (AD) Government has not been balanced in handling this issue.
Noting that “everyone wants regular, orderly, and controlled immigration,” Rui Tavares stressed that “there is a trend worldwide to use immigration to divide people” instead of understanding that addressing immigration is essential for a future-oriented society.
“Everything related to immigration is a highly relevant topic that we should not shy away from, one we should address honestly because it is deeply important to people, particularly regarding the labor market, wages, and social cohesion,” he stated.
