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The authorities in Portugal will expand the capacity of existing immigrant detention centres to 300 places by the summer – adding “temporary modular constructions” to current spaces, the assistant Secretary of State to the Presidency and for Immigration said Sunday.
The Resident reports that the Secretary of State to the Presidency and for Immigration Armindo Freitas told the press fthat, “The Ministry of Internal Affairs is working very quickly so that, in the coming months, we have the places we need.”
“We need between 300 and 600 places, and the previous government left us with only 80 places,” across two Temporary Installation Centres, he explained.
Thus “Internal Affairs is working very quickly to overcome this weakness in Portugal’s immigration system.”
He added that temporary installation centres are fundamental to the “logic of return” – a decree the government intends to have approved by parliament soon.
Although plans previously existed to build new units, the projects remain stuck in the PRR (Plan for Recovery and Resilience), and local councils contested some of the proposed locations, he said.
Consequently, the government intends to “reinforce existing units” to allow time for the later construction of new spaces.
