“At the moment, only four adults from the second group and one minor are with us”, confirms to DN official source of the Portuguese Council for Refugees (CPR), where the 19 Moroccan immigrants who illegally landed in the Algarve were staying and receiving support – a first group of eight last December it is a second group of 11 last January. Tito Matos, coordinator, he is unaware of the location and motivations of those who abandoned the CPR, but says that “the citizens concerned started to leave as they were informed of the negative response to the asylum application. We do not know where they are, although there are some sporadic contacts”.
In January, remember, the SEF Asylum and Refugees Office considered granting asylum “inadmissible” to Moroccans who had arrived at Monte Gordo beach, for not meeting the criteria foreseen in the law for international protection. Immigrants in the second group were also receiving the same responses.
Despite this decision, these immigrants could still benefit from a residence permit “exceptionally” for “humanitarian reasons”, granted by the Minister of Internal Affairs. “This assessment is not yet finished, what was requested was an international protection statute, we understand that it does not make any sense, in relation to a friendly country like Morocco, to grant an asylum status for which no adequate basis has been presented. “, Eduardo Cabrita said at the time, adding that alternatives would always be evaluated,” namely the granting of a residence permit “. But Moroccan immigrants did not want to wait.
Asked by the DN about the situation of these immigrants, SEF did not answer the DN’s questions.
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Asked by the DN about the situation of these immigrants, SEF did not answer the questions sent.
Portugal, gateway
Police sources who were following the process revealed, however, that “immigrants are in an unknown whereabouts” and that “the most certain thing is that they went to Spain or France to meet their communities, as, incidentally, it would be their first destination, with Portugal being only a gateway into Europe”.
with this outcome, there are lessons to be learned for the future: first, these decisions have to be much faster; second, in these cases, pending the response to their requests, claimants must be kept under surveillance
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António Nunes, president of the Observatory for Security, Organized Crime and Terrorism (OSCOT) believes that “with this outcome, there are lessons to be learned for the future: first, these decisions have to be much faster; second, in this type of cases, while waiting In response to their requests, applicants should be kept under surveillance, as is the case at the airport, and not under an open regime as was the case “. This international security expert understands that “only in this way can our country and the authorities guarantee the European Union that they control borders”.
For the president of OSCOT “our authorities cannot allow people to enter illegally and who, having received institutional support, then flee and enter the European space illegally”. “And just by chance were any of them part of a jihadist cell?” He asks. “It is a risk that we cannot take and Portugal is very poorly viewed by European partners, because we were responsible for these people”, he adds.
the first conclusion to be drawn is that, like other countries on the EU border (sea or land), Portugal is not a destination, but an entry point
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For Felipe Pathé Duarte, academic researcher and international security analyst, “the first conclusion to be drawn is that, like other countries on the EU border (sea or land), Portugal is not a destination, but an entry point”. A “second conclusion”, he adds, “has to do with the ease of traveling in a European space. Although an important part of the European ideal, Schengen has been one of the first victims of the migrant crisis”.
This expert believes that “from a moral point of view” the government’s procedure – which welcomed immigrants and placed them under the support of the CRP – “was correct”. However, he stresses that “there are different normative foundations between the protection of refugees or the admission of economic migrants. However, flows and motives are often mixed and the blocking policies of the destination states tend to contribute to this mixture”.
Illegal networks increase from Morocco
The first group of eight immigrants, between 16 and 20 years old, was detected by the Maritime Police, after being alerted by local fishermen, on Monte Gordo beach. Another four young people, who were also on the small boat, managed to escape before the authorities arrived, never being captured again.
The second group, which landed in Olhão and was also detected by popular people, was composed of men aged between 21 and 30 years old.
All 19 had the same geographical origin: El Jahid (former Portuguese Mazagão), on the Moroccan Atlantic coast, one of the areas where the networks of illegal immigration to Europe have increased the most.
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All 19 had the same geographical origin: El Jahid (former Portuguese Mazagão), on the Moroccan Atlantic coast, one of the areas where the networks of illegal immigration to Europe have increased the most. According to data from Frontex (European Border Agency), the Western Mediterranean sea route has risen by 40% in the last year – more than double that of 2017.
On this route the main points of departure are on the Moroccan coast and it is on the Atlantic side that the pressure has been greatest, with networks dominated by local ethnic groups. The 23 Moroccans who landed in the Algarve in 2007 also left this area, from Kenitra.
The landing of the latter of the groups raised the question of whether, in view of the reinforcement of security measures on the Spanish coast, the networks of aid to illegal immigration were testing new routes, namely through Portugal. The Security Information Service (SIS) has even warned of this possibility. The Minister of Internal Affairs, for his part, said that it was too early for this elation: “it is completely premature. We had tens of thousands of arrivals in Spain and we will not be able, for 19, to draw any conclusions from that. We are attentive”.
It remains to be clarified which analysis is closest to the truth. As well as, in fact, the route taken by these Moroccans, with what support and objectives – a matter that was being investigated by SEF. Young people did not bring documents, and it is not known whether and how many were officially identified.
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