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Government uses immigrants as “scapegoat”, says Antiracist Front

The Anti-Racist Front, representing various associations and movements, today accused the government of using immigrants as a “scapegoat” to solve the country’s problems, considering the new migration policy package as a regression of about 30 years.

“Our goal is to demonstrate that we are totally against the laws that the government is presenting today at the AR,” said Henrique Chaves of the Anti-Racist Front, also lamenting that the executive is “instrumentalizing the PSP to combat immigrants.”

The Anti-Racist Front held a press conference in front of the Assembly of the Republic on the day the government presents proposals in parliament to amend nationality and foreigner laws and create the Foreigners and Borders National Unit (UNEF) within the PSP.

Expressing a joint position from 14 organizations, Henrique Chaves stated, “against this shift in specific government policies against migrants in Portugal,” considering it to signify “a political regression” for foreigners living in Portugal.

“The immigration and nationality laws discussed today will mean that a large percentage of immigrants will live with greater precariousness, with fewer rights, more exposed to trafficking networks and precarious work,” he said, specifying that “it is a very big regression.”

The activist also noted that in the last 15 years immigration laws have been improving, as well as the nationality law.

According to the Anti-Racist Front, by presenting the measures on immigration as the first proposals since taking office, the government “demonstrates that the agenda is to place immigrants at the center of the country’s problems and not to solve the problems.”

“There are problems in health, transport, housing, education, and the government is concerned with attacking immigrants. Placing immigrants as scapegoats for the country’s problems is easy, it’s good for the government, and it helps them gain a platform with the far-right and neo-Nazis,” he said, stressing that foreigners living in Portugal “will remain precarious.”

Henrique Chaves also stated that the Anti-Racist Front intends to broaden the fight against the government to more associations and organize a demonstration, affirming that “the government did this very quickly and very agilely,” and it wasn’t possible to have “a response in the street” to express a position against the new proposals presented by the current government to amend the Nationality Law, the Foreigners Law, and to create the Foreigners and Borders National Unit (UNEF).

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