Asylum seekers 'sleeping on benches' at Lisbon airport // Car use triples, at cost of walkability and climate
Portuguese news in English on Tuesday, December 5, 2023.
‘Chaotic situation’ for asylum seekers at airport
Asylum seekers are “sleeping on benches” at Lisbon Airport, in a “chaotic situation” following the dissolution of the Immigration and Borders Service (SEF), Diário de Notícias reports. The reports, from a major police union, say there are almost always 15 to 20 people waiting for access to the Temporary Installation Centre (EECIT) for migrants at the airport, some of whom spend seven days sleeping in the international area waiting for a response from the new migration agency, AIMA. The union said Public Security Police (PSP) officers would take them to the EECIT to shower daily and supply them with meals, given there was nowhere to shower in the international zone. One former SEF inspector said he’d never seen anything like it.
If the asylum request hasn’t been processed in seven days, PSP is required to give them a temporary visa and allow them to enter the country. The union said AIMA couldn’t keep up with the requests and PSP broadly confirmed the situation. But AIMA said it wasn’t responsible for granting entry to the country and its average response time for international asylum requests was five days.
The new agency is also being criticised for being difficult to contact, Diário de Notícias reports. More than 200 complaints were made about AIMA in its first month of operation, 16% for this reason. The organisation also blocks comments on its social media channels, unlike SEF, the pages of which were often inundated with complaints. There are 34 Lojas AIMA around the country offering in-person services. The agency still has no estimates for when it will open spaces for family reunification visas.
Car use triples, at the cost of walkability and climate
Car use in Portugal has tripled since 1991, hitting a new record at the 2021 Census, a trend that needs reversing for Portugal to cut its emissions, Público reports. The increase has come at the cost of public transport and walkability.
In one example, Aida Silva, 60, spent five months commuting to work at the Polytechnic Institute of Porto by bicycle before giving up because he didn’t feel safe. His not particularly long route required riding along a national road, with almost no cycling infrastructure. These elements of city design favouring cars over other modes of transport are common throughout the country.
Frederico Moura e Sá argues the trend has created a self-reinforcing loop, with car use allowing people to live further from their job, spreading urbanisation further across the country and requiring more car use. Architect and professor Ivo Oliveira says the millions of euros spent on public transport in recent years isn’t enough to break the cycle because it allows the urban footprint to continue spreading and major industries to be carried out in inaccessible places. Decarbonisation of transport was a major topic at the COP28 global climate summit on the weekend, particularly given its the biggest slice of emissions in Europe.
Improved train networks are widely seen as part of the solution. On that front, despite having announced his resignation, Prime Minister António Costa is looking to get the green light from Social Democrat Party (PSD) head Luís Montenegro and whoever becomes the new leader of the Socialist Party (PS) to go ahead with tendering for the first stage of the TGV fast rail line from Lisbon to Porto in January, before the elections, Expresso reports.
Family anger at hospital refusing to prescribe drug
A Portuguese hospital is refusing to prescribe a less-invasive treatment to two young teens with haemophilia, Diário de Notícias reports. The mother of one of the boys, 13, claims it's because of their decision to stay with a doctor who has treated her son for his whole life, when she moved to Coimbra Hospital. The doctor’s lawyer claims it’s the latest example of alleged workplace harassment carried out against his client, a highly qualified specialist in rare diseases.
The boys, who aren’t related, currently take a medication that requires them to inject themselves several times a week, leaving their arms covered in track marks. The alternative, approved in Portugal in February, only needs to be injected once a month.
The doctor prescribed it on April 8 but soon after found out a new protocol had been put in place preventing her from doing so. The families have promised to do whatever it takes to get the boys access to the medication, and its significant quality of life benefits. The hospital didn’t respond to questions sent by DN.
In brief
Constitutional Court rejects new metadata laws. The court has again declared the laws, which permit the widespread collection of metadata for criminal investigations, unconstitutional, meaning it would be vetoed and handed back to MPs. (Público)
'My son sent me an email': Marcelo on case of twins who received multimillion-euro treatment. The president said his son contacted him to see if it was possible for the family friends to be treated in Portugal, triggering a chain of further emails. The president said he didn’t remember the events and denied that his office accelerated the treatment. (Diário de Notícias)
Health Ministry reaches agreement with one union to guarantee wage increases for doctors. Young doctors would earn another 14.6%, with some other professionals also handed double-digit increases. Doctors have been fighting for closer to 30% and another union said it was a “bad deal”, refusing to sign on. (Público)
Lisbon Metro works leave some residents with nowhere to go. Six families have to move out of their Alcântara homes, where they pay below-market rates, by the end of the year. Some will be rehoused but others still have nowhere to go. (Diário de Notícias).
On a lighter note
Was Bobi the world’s oldest dog – or a fraud? That’s the question WIRED sets out to answer, in English, in the most thorough investigation of the controversy so far. The writer describes themselves as “a journalist with an extremely high tolerance for low-stakes stories, a reporter who had once enlisted a crew of stamp-collectors to track down a package of fraudulent false teeth sent to the suburbs of Manchester, England”, so we’re off to a good start. Without spoiling too much, he tracks down dog fur experts, the Portuguese pets database and even allegations (without proof) of interference from Big Pet Food.