However, he stated that there may be some tension when a foreigner tries to enter Portugal and is stopped at the airport because he does not meet the conditions to enter the country.
“There is necessarily this tension here. Therefore, it is not a question of having humanist behaviors, in fact, the spaces that exist in national airports and also at the level of the housing unit [no Porto]is the area of the PSP that is most inspected, whether by national entities, or also by internal mechanisms, or also by international organizations, therefore, it is the area of the PSP that is currently most audited,” he said.
The person responsible stressed that the focus on this matter “is always transparent and professional”, trying to “break the myth” about what was said in some press that immigrants were advised to be afraid of the National Unit for Foreigners and Borders.
Rejecting the idea of “hunting illegal immigrants”, João Ribeiro said that the PSP’s approach is based on “risk factors”.
“We know where the risk factors are, we can identify where the people are. This ends up being a systemic view. I can’t now go and look for a thousand people who are in an irregular situation if I don’t have the capacity to provide emergency accommodation for these people. What we do is an approach in accordance with the risk matrices that we have and that we follow”, he stressed.
The deputy national director of the PSP insisted that “it is not a factor of being afraid”, but noted: “Of course, if I am in an irregular situation and I entered national territory irregularly and eventually I am carrying out acts that constitute crimes, yes, that person has to be afraid”.
The person responsible for UNEF also recognized that the PSP increased inspection operations in certain areas frequented by immigrants, namely in Lisbon.
“Yes, there are targeted operations. We carry out mobile border control operations, they are very targeted operations, that is, we have a clear notion of the risks, potential risks or threats that are present there in that area and we have this approach to increase inspections”, he said.
The “big objective” is to make Portugal a safe country and recognized as a destination of opportunity for immigrants, but at the same time it is necessary to “combat effectively and efficiently everything that represents high-risk situations”.
João Ribeiro considered that “it is not acceptable for there to be migratory routes exploring Portugal as a place where people in an irregular situation can enter”.
“Portugal represents a risk for the whole of Europe in terms of national irregular migrationso this is something that we have as a priority objective, but at the same time we have this systemic and structured approach”, he said.
In this sense, he highlighted the creation of UNEF to contribute “to internal security, so that Portugal is a safe country, but also so that there is regulated migration”.
“Also because, clearly, looking at the surveys of the Portuguese population, without a shadow of a doubt, the aging of Europe can only be combated either with natural growth or by allowing regulated migration that can contribute to the success of each country”, he also said.
Célia Paulo, Lusa journalist