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in News 19-06-2020 01:00:00 6 Comments

Over the past six months the Algarve region has seen 48 illegal immigrants from North Africa entering the country, with the last case recorded on 15 June in Vale do Lobo, when a vessel with 22 Moroccan migrants was intercepted.

In December 2019, a group of eight immigrants arrived on the Algarve coast and in January this year 11 Moroccan citizens were detected off the island of Armona, in the municipality of Olho.

On 6 June, seven migrants from North Africa were detected off Olho, and on 15 June a vessel with 22 men, allegedly of Moroccan origin, was intercepted when the crew prepared to disembark at Vale do Lobo beach.

In light of this new emerging trend, the Minister of Internal Administration, Eduardo Cabrita, said in January this year that it was premature to consider that this was a new migration route to Portugal.

It is very premature. There were tens of thousands of arrivals in Spain and we will not be able to draw any conclusions from the most recent arrivals in Portugal. We are attentive, I am in talks with Spanish and Moroccan authorities, and I hope to establish, in the coming weeks, a direct meeting with my Moroccan counterpart on several topics, including this one, said Eduardo Cabrita.

Eduardo Cabrita underlined that, at the moment, Portugal has three legal migration agreements pending with Morocco, India and Moldova.

What we want with Morocco is to open a mechanism for legal and prepared migration, he said, arguing that illegal immigration should be the object of investigation and legal treatment.

We have to be attentive. We have to be very attentive to that possibility because it is not very different to go to Spain or to go to the Algarve, it is just a matter of choice, he said.

In that sense, he added, it is necessary that the police authorities -SEF, the Maritime Police and the Republican National Guard, namely through the Coastal Control Unit - maintain the monitoring of such phenomena, as well as border surveillance.

In turn, the Mayor of Olho, Antnio Manuel Pina, revealed his concern for this growing trend and called for a correct framing of the situation, which, in his opinion, should not be attributed to the status of refugee.

It is true that we have to be welcoming, we are humans just like these Moroccan citizens, but we also should not confuse, in my opinion, these cases with citizens and migrants in the Mediterranean, in Syria, in Libya, where there are, in fact, fleeing from war and deplorable life situations, with these situations, said the mayor of Olho.

As long as they are not considered illegal immigrants and returned to their countries, groups of migrants will continue to try to reach the Algarve coast in boats, said Pina who is also the president of the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve (AMAL).

Antnio Miguel Pina said that the various cases of small boats that have arrived in the Algarve with migrants on board since last year, and the interception of the latest vessel with 22 migrants, allow us to think that there is an organised structure for illegal immigration to the south coast of Portugal.

This new arrival only reinforces our concerns, which have already been expressed to the Minister of Internal Affairs, because those who arrived a week ago were from the same location as the others from the previous year.

Antnio Pina said he disagrees with the possibility of these young people being considered exiles or political refugees, because the situation in Morocco, the country from which they say they come from,is different from the situation in the Mediterranean, with people from countries where there is war, such as Syria or Libya.

Antnio Pina has called for an appropriate response to be quickly given to cases of illegal immigration, which is their return to their country of origin, instead of the granting of refugee or exile statutes that allows these citizens to remain in Portugal.

As long as this is not done, it gives the signal that this is possible, because nothing happens. These 22, in our opinion, even begin to configure some possibility of extra aid. This very small vessel, with 22 people, is the same size as the one in which seven people came in previously and this raises the concern that a more fixed route to help illegal immigration may have already been created here, he said.The President of AMAL has now called on the Government to give a clear signal to these citizens that they may not be considered exiles and will be returned to their countries of origin, because only in this way will it be possible to give an adequate response to discourage others from also trying to cross in the future, he defended.

Asked if the appearance of the 22 migrants intercepted on Monday in court could be a sign of the change in attitude of the Portuguese authorities, Antnio Pina replied that he will wait to understand what the final outcome of the case will be.

See the rest here:
Illegal migrants crossing to the Algarve increasing - The Portugal News