Illegal immigrants will number in the tens of thousands, says PSP

The head of the PSP's National Foreigners and Borders Unit estimated that "tens of thousands" of immigrants live in the country illegally and expressed concern about recent networks detected at airports, particularly involving Portuguese-speaking citizens.

“I would say that we have tens of thousands of people who are in an irregular situation in the national territory,” said João Ribeiro, deputy national director of the PSP and head of the National Unit for Foreigners and Borders (UNEF).

The official admitted that, in the majority, these will be simple cases, “perhaps due to inexperience, perhaps due to inaction, considering the legal context that existed, or because they did not submit documents, or because they should have provided proof of certain situations and did not do so.”

“The point is that we now have a more coherent framework in terms of what regulated migration is,” he said.

In an interview with Lusa news agency, João Ribeiro said that some of the immigrants had expressed their interest (an instrument that was abolished in June 2024 and allowed foreign citizens who wanted to live in the country to apply for a residence permit), but others had already arrived without that instrument and without having made any registration.

"They never submitted any documents. If they didn't submit the documents when they were supposed to, they're in an irregular situation," he said, noting that immigrants in this situation are primarily Brazilians and from the Indian subcontinent, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

Noting that this number is related to "the excessive volume of cases that AIMA had to deal with and which represents great challenges" for the PSP, João Ribeiro stressed that the new PSP unit's "main concern" is these immigrants in an irregular situation and those who are currently entering Portugal and who represent a "great risk" for the country and the Schengen area.

In this sense, he added that "one of the recent concerns" of the PSP is related to the recent networks detected at airports.

"Since the expressions of interest ended, [this type of network] is seen as a simpler way" of trying to enter the country, said the official, arguing that it is necessary to "look more closely at this approach."

The PSP has detected many fake contracts at airports, with non-existent companies, by "citizens from different CPLP [Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries] countries who want to come to Portugal to work," he said.

Some of them have even "confessed that they paid to obtain these documents" and many of them may even be "using Portugal as a gateway to Europe."

The person in charge maintained that the focus will be on anticipating risk scenarios.

He explained that there have been "meetings and contacts with the migration and border police of other countries, particularly the CPLP," with a view to strengthening air borders in those states that pose a risk to Portuguese borders.

He also mentioned that several training courses were held in several CPLP countries last month to train local border police in detecting risk situations that pose migratory pressure to Portugal.

"By designing these elements, we're going back to the origin of the migration routes, especially since the migratory pressure some of these countries face isn't so much from their own nationals. It ends up being a whole group of neighboring states with migration routes that are trying to leverage the CPLP country's strengths to come to Portugal," he said.

The head of the PSP's UNEF also said that more cases of human trafficking are being reported in Portugal for labor and sexual exploitation and the 'importation' of children for adoption.

"Unfortunately, we have seen signs that Portugal is also a destination for human trafficking for labor exploitation, whether for sexual exploitation, or also, unfortunately, in some cases where these are processes for the purposes of importation, and I apologize for the strong expression, importation of children for adoption," explained the deputy national director of the PSP and head of UNEF.

João Ribeiro explained that the Judiciary Police is responsible for the crime of human trafficking, but the Public Security Police "plays a fundamental role in terms of prevention" by being able to flag situations that occur at airport border crossings and at the national level.

"These situations primarily occur in large urban centers, metropolitan areas, and also along the coast. In this sense, I must say that there is an excellent relationship with the National Republican Guard and the Judicial Police in identifying these situations," he emphasized.

The official explained that the PSP has currently reported more cases of human trafficking than in the past.

"The investigative competence is not ours, it is the Judiciary Police's, but, in fact, the numbers we are reporting are significant. This does not mean that, after investigation, all these situations constitute the legal type of crime that human trafficking represents," he stated.

Regarding the 'importation' of children for adoption, João Ribeiro said that the PSP is detecting situations at national airports in which "apparently family or non-family members" arrive in the country with children, which raises suspicions.

“This is one of the aspects in which we have increased the capacity of airports in terms of signaling,” he added.