Another 198 Timorese arrived in Portugal last morning
Another 198 Timorese citizens arrived in Portugal last morning. The figures released, in parliament, by the Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, during a joint hearing in the parliamentary committees on Constitutional Affairs and on Culture and Sport.
“In recent months, around 5,000 Timorese citizens have entered Portugal and around 4,000 have left. About 1,073 East Timorese remain in Portugal, to which we must add the approximately 198 who arrived this morning”, said Minister Ana Catarina Mendes.
References to the Government on the situation of citizens coming from Timor-Leste come from similar numbers to the authorities – they came from Portugal in questions asked by the PSD.
In her reply, the Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, who assured that the Government is “working” and “monitoring” the situation together with the authorities and with several municipalities, added: “There are 865 Timorese citizens who are protected, 542 who are relocated and 161 who are already integrated into the job market”.
During the hearing, a government official defended that the issue of homeless Timorese in national territory is a “humanitarian problem” that involves people who have received job invitations, in many criminals, by “criminal networks”.
“The authorities have to act – and they are acting – and it is not up to me about the work and how to attend to what the networks will arrive as authorities. . We will not allow that”, stressed Ana Catarina Mendes before the deputies.
This Friday it became known that the President of the Republic of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, will pay a State visit to Portugal between the 29th of October and the 4th of November. The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs confirmed, in parliament, that there will be “meetings” with the East Timorese head of state on the situation of citizens who arrived in Portugal in recent months.