Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Prime Minister of Portugal, Luís Montenegro, said Saturday that “what can be expected from Portugal is respect for the dignity of people” and greater agility in terms of visas to enter the country and treatment of the migratory flow.
The leader of the Portuguese Government was speaking at a joint press conference with the Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva, in Praia.
There are no changes to the rules with the new Government, he clarified, considering it natural that there would be “more agile rules” with countries with greater proximity, such as Cape Verde or others that speak Portuguese. “That’s not in question, let’s be clear,” he said.
“Now, unfortunately, it is clear that we have accumulated problems in the agency that replaced the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) in terms of service and response readiness. And this is hurting people a lot,” he said.
In addition to the immediate problems in reception, it encourages “the use of suffering by networks that take advantage of vulnerability to extort resources”, already scarce, from those who emigrate to Portugal in search of a better life.
“It is the intention of the Portuguese Government to have a policy of doors that are neither wide open nor closed, a policy of regulation that respects rights”, he said, promising “more agility in this process”.
“The idea that we can function without rules is utopian, nor does it have advantages for those looking for quality of life”, but, on the other hand, “the idea of closing doors and frustrating mobility” is also not viable, so “it is we are focusing on the balance, with more agile mechanisms”, said the Prime Minister.
“Unfortunately, in recent years, the search for more agile solutions ended up leading to clogging of services and we have to do some things” to “unclog” them, because “they are not providing a capable response”, he added.
Luís Montenegro guaranteed the continuity of professional training projects supported by Portugal in Cape Verde, considering the ongoing process “virtuous”: investing in training in the archipelago so that Portugal can receive qualified staff, absorbed in economic activity, with protection and guarantees, in what he classified as “the best way to welcome and integrate immigrant labor”.
This is a “strategic bet that interests both countries” and that “has nothing to do with the parliamentary framework we have in Portugal”, he said, in response to a journalist who questioned the risk that the increase in extreme deputies -right can bring.
“It doesn’t occur to me that anyone could call into question” a project with such a virtuous “framework”, not even “that they have doubts about migratory flows”, concluded Montenegro.
On the Government side, Ulisses Correia e Silva hopes that labor mobility can be guaranteed “with rights, in a structured and organized way”, serving as an example of what relations between Europe and Africa can be.
For More News And Analysis About Cape verde Follow Africa-Press
