Portugal has announced plans to expel around 18,000 foreigners living in the country without legal permits of authorisation, a minister said ahead of snap election.
Minister of the Presidency António Leitão Amaro said the government will issue notifications telling some 4,500 people living illegally in the nation that they have 20 days to leave.
If they decide not to leave voluntarily, then they will be deported, Amaro stressed.
Last week, Amaro was quoted in the local press as saying that “Portugal needs to review its deportation system, which doesn’t work”.
Minister of the Presidency António Leitão Amaro said the government will issue notifications telling some 4,500 people living illegally in the nation that they have 20 days to leave.
Getty
“It is important to realise that Portugal is one of the three countries in Europe that executes the fewest deportations of people who were ordered to leave for violating the rules, including for security reasons,” he said.
The announcement comes in the build-up to Portugal's snap general election, scheduled to be held on 18 May.
Local reports say that Amaro stressed that the notifications to leave the country are because people have come to the country “violating Portuguese and European rules”.
“A state governed by the rule of law needs to draw the consequences of what the law says, and what the law says is to give notice to leave the country voluntarily, within a period of up to 20 days, after which the so-called coercive removal must take place,” he added.
MORE LIKE THIS:
The election was brought forward by Prime Minister Luis Montenegro
Getty
People take to the streets in support of migrants in January
Getty
The election was brought forward by Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, after his minority government lost a confidence vote in Parliament and stood down.
Social Democratic Party leader Montenegro took control less than a year ago.
He has been accused of a potential conflict of interest regarding a family law firm, which had financial ties to a company that received a major gambling concession from the government.
Montenegro tried to diffuse the scandal by calling for fresh elections. However, opposition parties joined forces to take down his two-party coalition ,which holds just 80 seats in the 230-seat legislature.
Undocumented immigrants claim for their rights to become legal and work in the country on May 1
Getty
Political analysts have also noted the rising European tide of populism in the country, with the hard-right Chega party taking third place in last year’s election.
Analysts have said that the expulsions may be an attempt by the conservative government to recapture support from voters leaning further right.
The upcoming vote could send the country with a population of 10.6million into months of political uncertainty.
