SANN News
Portugal is preparing to deport 18,000 foreigners just before the general election, with the intention of sending back illegal immigrants to their countries. The Portuguese government has announced that it will order about 18,000 foreigners to leave the country during the election campaign. The operation will begin next week, with 4,500 foreigners initially ordered to leave Portugal voluntarily and given 20 days to leave.
Immigration has become a major issue in Portugal, with demands to strengthen the system for expelling those who enter the country illegally. Minister Antonio Leito Amaro has raised the issue last week, stating that Portugal’s deportation system is ineffective and needs to be reviewed. Portugal is one of the three European countries with the lowest number of deportations, most of them being people who have been ordered to leave the country because they have violated the rules.
The growing influence of the right-wing in Portugal is also affecting national politics, with the far-right Shega party becoming the third largest party in Portugal with 18 percent of the vote in the March 2024 elections. The party’s leader, André Ventura, has been accused of racism and Islamophobia, and its radical proposals have been rejected by the Superior Council of the Judiciary.
Political instability is a major reason for the growing influence of the far-right party, as the May 18 election is the third mid-term election in three years. The country’s two largest parties, the Socialist Party (PS) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD), have both been accused of corruption, making the Shega party’s promise to change the current political system attractive to many voters.
