The PSD president on Monday believed that the government should “face the immigration issue head-on” and stressed the need for oversight and planning to avoid situations like those in Lisbon, Olhão and Odemira.
“I want to make two very direct appeals to the government here. First, don’t bury your head in the sand and deal with this issue head on. There needs to be oversight, but there also needs to be planning,” Luís Montenegro said. upon arrival in Guarda, the sixth district chosen under the “Sentir Portugal” initiative, carried out following the commitment it made at the 40th Congress to spend one week a month in the various districts of the country .
Answering questions related to immigration, after the fire that broke out on Saturday evening in a building in the Mouraria district of Lisbon, which left two Indian nationals dead and 14 injured, Luís Montenegro also “deeply regretted” that the PS and the government “had not taken advantage” of the impetus of the PSD and had not supported it in promoting a transversal and universal programme.
A program that, he continued, would allow us “to know who we need in Portugal, who we want in Portugal and to welcome and integrate these collaborators into our development”.
“Portugal has a demographic problem, that is clear. All studies indicate that we will lose 20 to 25% of our population in the coming years. We must keep our young people, we must not let them leave the country and take advantage of their qualifications But that’s not enough,” he said.
And he added: “We need to reverse the birth trend in Portugal and [de] create conditions to remove obstacles for young couples who want children. But even that is not enough. We must have policies on immigration, reception and integration of immigrants.”
“Looking at Lisbon, I believe that the day has come to wake up the country and the government, to have an effective migration policy, which not only monitors, but on the contrary can plan, can plan for the reception and integration of immigrants,” he concluded.
According to Montenegro, the event in Lisbon “has revealed a reality that unfortunately exists in Portugal and not only in Lisbon”, in several regions, related to the presence of immigrants who come to help the country to close some gaps in the bridging human resources.
“They come with good intentions and are subjected to inhumane conditions,” he said, referring not only to the case of Lisbon, related to housing, but also to the reactions of “more or less organized” groups, as happened in Olhao.
The PSD leader also recalled what happened in Odemira, where migrant workers “live in absolutely intolerable conditions and earn very low incomes”, because a large part of the income is withheld “by illegal labor networks”.
For Luís Montenegro, who expressed his regret for the victims of the fire in Lisbon, the above situations “must be called to account”.
The PSD President’s “Sentir Portugal” initiative was launched today in the city of Guarda and will run through the various municipalities in the district until Friday, aiming to connect with local reality and engage in dialogue with citizens, families, municipalities and institutions.
Source: DN
