“Next month, we will put the new return regime up for public discussion so that it can reach the parliament in December,” stated António Leitão Amaro during a parliamentary debate on the Government’s proposal for the State Budget for 2026 (OE2026).
The official emphasized that the new regime being prepared “ensures, on one hand, respect for fundamental rights and, on the other, greater security and effectiveness.”
Regarding asylum requests, the minister acknowledged that “there is an abusive resource to prolong the stay and exceed the maximum detention period,” referring to a recent incident involving Moroccan citizens who arrived in the Algarve during the summer.
However, he noted that asylum seekers “are a very small number in Portugal.”
According to the minister, Portugal received 2,000 asylum requests in 2022, 2,600 in 2023, a similar number in 2024, and 1,300 this year.
“We do not see in Portugal anything similar to what is happening in northern and central European countries where migration waves are being used within the asylum system,” he said, adding that it is necessary “to limit such situations.”
Leitão Amaro mentioned that Portugal hosts 1.5 million immigrants and 65,000 people with international protection, 61,000 of whom are under the Ukraine regime.
“We do not have pressure from asylum seekers looking to Portugal,” he stated.
