Immigrant associations demand the return of the Expression of Interest for everyone
The articles written by the PÚBLICO Brasil team are written in the variant of the Portuguese language used in Brazil.
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On Friday (25/10), at 3 pm, on the other side of the street, in front of the Assembly of the Republic, there was a demonstration with 150 to 200 immigrants, many of them with posters in their hands, in the fight for the return of the Demonstration of Interest. They pressed for the return of the possibility of legalizing themselves after having entered the country and having contributed to Social Security — all they had to do was send a document to the immigration authorities expressing their interest in obtaining a residence permit.
The skin tones and clothes worn revealed a mixture, with people who came from Africa, South Asia, Brazil, among other origins. Every few minutes the megaphone changed hands. The slogans were shouted in various accents, calling to the protesters: “We are all immigrants”; “Equal Rights”; Documents for everyone; “No more waiting.” While the traffic was opened by the police, some of the cars passing by honked their horns and drivers showed signs of support.
At first, there were around 100 people, increasing to double that over the course of more than an hour. Many of them carried posters in their hands. The texts mentioned immigrants’ contributions to Social Security, the wait they face to be seen and the less than dignified treatment they have received.
The banners on the railings that protected the stairs to the Parliament indicated the immigrant associations that were present: Solidariedade Imigrante, Casa do Brasil, Olho Vivo, Frente Anti-racista, Reviver a Mouraria, Associação do Bangladesh, Associação Islâmica. The Tapada das Mercês representative did not bring the banner. “It was due to the train strike. Otherwise I would bring the banner and much more,” he said.
Timóteo Macedo, from Solidariedade Imigrante, criticized the Government’s measure, taken on June 3, which extinguished Expressions of Interest. “This government cannot give in to the policies of the extreme right. Migrants are needed in the country like bread for the mouth. Many bosses say they need immigrants. Without them, agriculture will not produce, restaurants will not have anyone to serve. They are finished with expressions of interest and 80 thousand immigrants were unable to obtain the document. These workers are in limbo”, he states.
According to Macedo, the end of the possibility of legalization caught everyone by surprise, including President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, with whom he met. “He thought it would just be a temporary interruption, not permanent,” he reveals.
Regarding the queue of more than 400 thousand cases left by the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), he attributes it to an intentional action. “When it was announced that the SEF was going to be extinguished, there was a blackmail strategy that paralyzed operations. It paralyzed scheduling, paralyzed family reunification, paralyzed service”, he accuses.
Present at the demonstration, Ana Paula Costa, vice-president of Casa do Brasil in Lisbon — the oldest immigrant association in Portugal — He also criticized the way in which the end of the Expression of Interest was decided. “It created a situation of instability and insecurity among immigrants. Within three hours they were unable to make an Expression of Interest”, he says.
She does not consider that the proposal announced by the Government to open the possibility for citizens of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) to apply for residence in Portugal — and Brazilians don’t even need a visa, being able to enter as tourists — go divide the immigrants. “It has already happened before that the Portuguese government created a mechanism for the legalization of Brazilians. This paved the way for the possibility of all immigrants becoming legalized”, he adds.
