The decision has not yet been released by the Aliens and Borders Service (SEF), but the DN confirmed with a source that it is following the process that the Asylum and Refugees Office (GAR), which issues technical and reasoned opinions, considered “inadmissible. “, given the legal criteria in force, the granting of asylum to eight Moroccan immigrants who landed at Monte Gordo last December.
Despite this negative opinion, the SEF management announced, in an official statement, that it will appreciate the request for “international protection” made by the 11 migrants who landed in Olhão this Tuesday. “Under the international protection framework applied in other cases of foreign citizens rescued in the Mediterranean, the application for the granting of the status will be registered and documentation will be provided that proves the period of analysis of the same. This documentation allows, during that period, to be able to them be guaranteed medical assistance, education, accommodation and means of subsistence “, claims the SEF, presenting the same arguments for the previous case and which the GAR refuted.
The final decision is in the hands of the Minister of Internal Administration, who can still authorize these immigrants to reside in our country “exceptionally” for “humanitarian reasons”.
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Even so, the lead from GAR can serve as a basis to dissuade the consolidation of a new route of illegal immigration in the Mediterranean towards Portugal. The final decision is in the hands of the Minister of Internal Administration, who can still authorize these immigrants to reside in our country “exceptionally” for “humanitarian reasons”.
Speaking on Tuesday, regarding the new landing of illegal immigrants in the Algarve – 11 Moroccans from the same village as the previous ones -, Eduardo Cabrita has already hinted at the lead of the GAR, although he maintained that the process was not completed. “This assessment is not yet finished, what was requested was an international protection statute, we understand that it makes no sense, in relation to a friendly country like Morocco, to grant an asylum status for which no adequate grounds have been put forward “, said the minister, adding that alternatives will always be evaluated, “namely the granting of a residence permit”.
SEF director admitted asylum
At the time, it was SEF director Cristina Gatões herself, who admitted this possibility, when she told journalists that Portugal could welcome young people, under the framework of the asylum law applied in other cases of foreigners rescued in the Mediterranean. “We are working within the framework or within the scope of international protection and then, when we assess their situation, measures will be taken accordingly”, he anticipated. Asked about the reasons that could be invoked for this international protection, the SEF director replied that it could be political issues, for refugees, or humanitarian issues, which have been the most applied in these cases, she acknowledged.
However, the GAR concluded that none of the conditions foreseen in the law framing the granting of asylum could be invoked in this case. The Asylum Law is clear in this regard: “The right of asylum is guaranteed to foreigners and stateless persons persecuted or seriously threatened with persecution, as a result of activity carried out in the State of their nationality or of their habitual residence in favor of democracy, liberation social and national rights, peace between peoples, freedom and the rights of the human person, foreigners and stateless persons are also entitled to asylum who, fearing they will be persecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinions or integration in a certain social group, cannot or, because of this fear, do not want to return to the State of their nationality or habitual residence. ” None of these situations apply in Morocco.
Then, considering Moroccans as economic immigrants, the Foreigners Law gives an opening in “extraordinary situations”, allowing that, “at the proposal of the SEF director or at the initiative of the member of the government responsible for the area of internal administration, can exceptionally” grant residence authorization “for reasons of national interest; for humanitarian reasons; for reasons of public interest arising from the exercise of a relevant activity in the scientific, cultural, sporting, economic or social fields”. This exception has been used mainly to legalize immigrants, for humanitarian reasons, who do not make discounts but have lived in Portugal for more than a year and are integrated into society, a source from SEF explained to DN.
Signs must be firm
In December, as DN reported, the Security Information Service (SIS) warned of the possibility of establishing new routes for illegal immigration towards Portugal, if signs of easy entry were given. The Minister of Internal Administration has already come to say that “it is premature to speak of new routes”.
Former Secretary of State for Internal Administration Nuno Magalhães, who tutored SEF, agrees that it is “premature”, but underlines that “these matters work by signs and it is good that the signal that the government wants to give is firm in the sense of deterring any intention to establish, in fact, this new route “.
These matters work by signs and it is good that the signal that the government wants to give is firm in the sense of deterring any intention that, in fact, this new route is established.
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The ex-president of the parliamentary bench of the CDS points out that “in Portugal there is a legal regime for immigration and another for asylum – and both cases are humanitarian, adequate and even avant-garde regimes in the European Union (EU)”. In his opinion, “Portugal must have a strict immigration and humanist policy on asylum – that is the signal to give”. Without wanting to go into the specific case of Moroccans, “whose details” he is unaware of, Nuno Magalhães is convinced as to the option he defends: “It is good that Portugal has a Minister of Internal Administration who is well aware of the differences in legal regimes, who acts in accordance with the law and not for the convenience of his political alliances.”
O international security and terrorism specialist Filipe Pathé Duarte he also thinks that it is too early to talk about new routes, but “taking into account that this is the second time this type of landings has taken place, involving immigrants with the same origin, this scenario should not be excluded”. He believes that the government should give “a weighing message and be modest in concluding that Portugal is on the route of illegal immigration by sea”. However, he points out, “we must see that, in fact, the routes have changed in recent times”.
The maritime route of illegal immigration towards Europe that increased the most in the last year, according to Frontex data, was the Western Mediterranean. 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. So much the group of 23 Moroccans who landed in the Algarve in 2007 like the eight young migrants from the past 11th of December and those of this week left this area – Kenitra and El Jadida -, where these movements grew by about 40%.
The group that landed in December consisted of 12 young people, but four managed to escape before the authorities arrived. His first destination would be Spain, where they will have gone, with no news as yet of his whereabouts.
GNR control without operators?
The Algarve coast is guarded by five special radars that are part of the GNR’s Integrated Coastal Surveillance and Control System (SIVICC). This system is capable of detecting small vessels the size of those used by Moroccans and, according to an operator at the Coastal Control Unit, who manages the equipment, “is working perfectly”. However, he points out, “there is a big problem, which is the lack of operators”.
There should always be an average of 12 operators, but there are times when there are only two. Thus, it is impossible to control and visualize everything.
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The SIVICC, which has a total of 20 towers with radars and cameras distributed along the Portuguese coast, is controlled from a command center in Lisbon, where are the screens for each of the radars to transmit the images in real time . “There should always be an average of 12 operators at all times, but there are times when there are only two. So it is impossible to control and visualize everything.”
Asked in December about whether there were flaws in the SIVICC, the GNR General Command ensured that the system “detected the vessel in question”. However, “considering the history of approaches to that beach by wooden boats, the characteristics of the path that followed and the place where the landing took place (often used by local fishing vessels, identical to this one), it was not the vessel that carried migrants classified with risk level of interest “.
GNR also added that “the land surveillance patrols” also “detected the boarding”. GNR also stated that “the occurrence under analysis did not result in a change in risk levels in the border section of the Algarve, and it is certain that Guarda, through coastal and maritime patrolling, which are interconnected with SIVICC, will continue to ensure the permanent surveillance of the Portuguese coast and the territorial sea “.
Faced with the new case and the reported lack of operators, GNR responded on Thursday morning, explaining that “the acuity of surveillance and research actions on small boats has increased, especially on the south coast of the country”.
GNR also adds that “SIVICC [Sistema Integrado de Vigilância, Comando e Controlo] integrates 5 Fixed Observation Posts in the Algarve, all of them in full operation, in the following locations: Ponta da Piedade, Galé, Ancão, Armona and Praia Verde “. And, he adds,” the surveillance of the coast is ensured using Observation Posts. Furniture, with special emphasis on waiting, with night vision and sea patrols, in each 24-hour period “.
Regarding the operators, GNR denies that these operators are missing. “The SIVICC is manned by a total of 53 military personnel, exclusively for functions, distributed by teams, none of them below the ten military personnel permanently. It is added that a course will be held, still in the year 2020, to train new operators, aiming, even so, to reinforce the referred teams “, he claims.
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