Portugal: Lula complains about racism against Brazilians and a prime minister speaks of tolerance zero

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva charged this Wednesday 19, that Brazilians are not the target of racism and xenophobia in Portugal, during a meeting with the country’s prime minister, Luís Montenegro. In response, the head of the Portuguese government promised “zero tolerance” for the perpetrators of crimes related to prejudice of origin or race.

“We kept a very frank conversation about how to improve the lives of our expats. I told Prime Minister Montenegro that we need to deconstruct the lying narrative that associates Brazilian migration with increased crime in Portugal. We know that there is no room for racism and xenophobia among us, ”said Lula, in a speech after the summit between governments in the Planalto Palace.

Complaints of crimes against Brazilian immigrants have grown in Portugal, following the increase of the Brazilian community in the country in recent years. According to Itamaraty’s latest data, there are 513,000 Brazilian nationals living in Portugal, the second largest contingent of expatriates in the world, behind only the United States.

Commission data for equality and against racial discrimination Portuguese responsible for the case registration, reveal 833% of the complaints of Brazilians: there were 18 in 2017 and 168 in 2022. There are no more recent data, because the commission passed a paralyzed year And it came back only last December, with the possession of the new members and their operation linked to the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic.

Zero tolerance promise

“I can’t guarantee, I have to be completely honest, that there can be no epodically manifestation of racism, of xenophobia. What I can say is that we have zero tolerance for those who have such a behavior, ”promised Montenegro.

According to the Prime Minister, the zero tolerance policy is preventing, the “unambiguous” stance of repression “to any temptation” of crimes and also the protection of people who may be exposed and become victims. He said countries work to achieve better cooperation in order to “remove any occurrence of xenophobic behaviors.”

The Premier of the Social Democratic Party repeated, however, the line of discourse of distinct Portuguese authorities in the local political spectrum: cases are isolated. This argument is similar to that of the president of Parliament and that of the diplomacy of the predecessor government of António Costa, the Socialist Party.

“The Portuguese, in their overwhelming majority, really overwhelming, have none, but none, tendency for phenomena of xenophobia. They don’t have, ”said Montenegro.

According to the premie, the relationship with Brazilians is very close to the identity of values ​​and culture, as well as the common language. He stated that if it were not so, Brazilians would not have so much desire to live in Portugal, nor the Portuguese to welcome them.

“In exceptional cases and in severe cases – sometimes there is only one case or two, which is contaminated an entire community. We have to do the pedagogy… Attention, they do not extract any decrease in the value of things. I am not saying that a case that is not a concern, of course it is. But we have to relativize. We cannot extract the conclusion, with the exception, that this is the rule. Indeed it is not. ”

The charge was on the agenda of Lula’s meetings with Montenegro and President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the day before, also in Brasilia. Brazilian diplomacy had already brought the complaints to the knowledge of the Portuguese authorities.

The day before, the President of Portugal stressed that he regulated the facilitation of requests for residence the previous week. The change in the promulgated law will allow Brazilians to enter the process of housing for study or work during trips such as tourists, without the need for prior visa.

“This law has just been regulated and one of the concerns is not only to guarantee the rights of those in Portugal and overcome problems of regularization but also to open a way for the future, which is fundamental to society and Portuguese economy, which has so much Benefit of hundreds of thousands of Brazilians who already live in Portugal, ”said the president.

Immigrant Integration

Montenegro also spoke of efforts to facilitate the integration of immigrants in Portugal – the country has encouraged immigration to streamline the economy, although there was also a growth of right -wing radical sectors with hate speeches, including parliament.

The current Portuguese government has extinguished the former foreigners and border service (SEF) and transferred the agency tasks for integration, migrations and asylum (AIMA).

The agency has established a task force to reduce the queue and process the documentation of about 400,000 immigrants in the country. Most pending cases are Brazilians, a group that makes up 35% of foreigners residing in Portugal: 368 449 Brazilians, according to data from the country, of 2023. The total of immigrants was 1,044,606 foreigners.

Montenegro stated that it determined a reinforcement in immigrant care teams across the country and that there are currently over 25 centers where regularization processes are being processed. According to him, the bureaucracy’s ability to respond is four or five times higher than ten months ago when he took power.

“The expectation is in the coming months to be able to close this page and have regularity in the flow of entry in our country,” said the prime minister.

Second, the ruler the 500,000 Brazilians living in Portuguese society are active part and collaborate with the positive moment of the country.

“I want to assure Brazilians, the President of the Republic and the members of the Brazilian government that we in Portugal have a relationship of perfect articulation with Brazilians who chose to live in Portugal. They are effectively the largest immigrant community we have in our country and that’s why it is better integrated, ”said the prime minister. “This is reason for me to recognize gratitude that the Portuguese Government those who have sought us to feed the dream of achieving greater prosperity for their families.”