Portugal has set up a new immigration agency from Sunday, one of the objectives of which is to speed up the processing of thousands of cases, according to the government, as part of a reorganisation of the services for the reception of foreigners and border controls.
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The Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) is the successor to the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), which was responsible for border controls and the allocation of residence permits.
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As part of this reform, the powers of the SEF were transferred to several other bodies.
Border controls will be carried out by the Public Security Police (PSP) and the Gendarmerie, while the Judicial Police will be in charge of investigations related to illegal immigration and human trafficking.
AIMA, which will be based in Lisbon, will take care of administrative matters related to the regularisation and integration of foreigners.
The aim is to "reduce bureaucracy and provide a better service to immigrants who choose Portugal to live in," Socialist Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ana Catarina Mendes, whose ministry will oversee the new entity, told the daily Público.
AIMA, which is expected to have more staff and reception points for immigrants, is counting on modernizing the system for processing residence applications to process the more than 300,000 pending cases, according to Público.
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Portugal must "remain a reference in terms of humanism and respect for human dignity in the reception of migrants and refugees", stressed Catarina Mendes, adding that by the end of the year "the priority will be family reunification".
The history of the SEF, which was created in 1986 and depended on the Ministry of the Interior, was marked by the death in March 2020 of a Ukrainian man in a temporary reception centre at Lisbon airport. Three inspectors were convicted in the case.