The presiding judge at the Silves Tribunal has today validated the detentions of 31 individuals for illegal immigration, ruling they will remain in a temporary installation center “pending the coercive removal process or possibly a voluntary return process,” stated Major Ilídio Barreiros of the GNR Coastal and Border Control Unit, speaking to RTP.
Regarding the remaining seven people who were also on the boat that landed at Boca do Rio beach in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, Barreiros explained that they have not yet been questioned by authorities as they are hospitalized or accompanying their minor children.
“We still have migrants hospitalized. We will identify them to subsequently formalize the detention process for illegal entry into national territory,” he explained, adding that they will appear in court within the legal 48-hour timeframe, but their health must be safeguarded first.
The major recalled that these migrants are quite fragile, emphasizing his earlier statement about the “weak state, dehydration, and hypothermia” indicating that these children and adults were exposed to adverse weather conditions for “several days.”
Portuguese authorities assure that they will prioritize “the protection and assistance of these individuals,” ensuring they are taken to “a place of dignity,” said the GNR official.
The Civil Protection Service of the Vila do Bispo Municipal Council has provided a sports pavilion in Sagres, which the major confirmed was prepared with “very good conditions in a very short time.”
At the pavilion, the migrants were able to shower and have already been served meals, he added.
Barreiros also noted that the coercive removal process has a legal timeline of 60 days, and it will be handled by the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) until August 21.
If the removal processes are not completed, the case will then pass to the PSP, which will assume new administrative responsibilities regarding return and removal.
The 25 men, six women, and seven minors, aged between 12 months and 44 years, will remain in the temporary welcome center until the process is concluded.
The migrants who landed on the beach are all Moroccan and entered the Schengen area illegally.
