About five thousand Timorese were recruited, this year, with job promises, accommodation and legalization, in exchange for three to four thousand euros. Many have been abandoned and are homeless. Most cases occurred in the municipalities of Beja and Serpa.
The authorities are concerned about the recent phenomenon. in previous years, there was an average of 500 thousand Timorese who entered Portugal looking for a better life. Since January, about five thousand have already been registered. And everything points to them being victims of criminal networks of human trafficking for labor exploitation., to whom they paid between three and four thousand euros, with job promises, accommodation and legalization. Many of them are already homeless and the SEF has a dozen ongoing investigations into this Timorese exodus..
More than 550 Timorese citizens who, under the visa waiver, arrive every month in the national territory. The abnormal flow of immigration and the hundreds of cases of abandonment reported across the country, like in FundĂŁo or Serpa, led the authorities to open investigations into suspected human trafficking for labor exploitation. Discover some of the life stories of these citizens.
Mariana Costa Belo, 38 year old, not (Lives in a house in Serpa, in a group of 23 people. Have been threatened with eviction): “I have been in Serpa for two months, I arrived in July and my sister came with me. I paid 2.000 dollars to an agency named New Generation, with the promise of work and housing, but after arriving things were very different, I don't have work or money and I'm gone, just like the others 22 Timorese who live in the house, threatened with eviction, for lack of payment. In total I worked 24 days, but i only got the money for two weeks (not revealing the value), because the boss (recruiter) disappeared and didn't pay the rest. I don't know what it's going to be like without money and maybe without a home”.
Blessed Costa Belo, 37 year old, not (Lives in a house in Serpa, in a group of 23 people. Have been threatened with eviction): “I came with my sister and as she paid New Generation 2.000 dollars and promises were the same and then everything was different. I worked for a few days and received little. my boss (recruiter) it was the same, That's why I have the same problems. Without money, I don't know what the next time will be like”.
Isaac de Jesus, 25 year old, not (lived in Pias, Serpa, which was closed and is housed in the Multipurpose Pavilion of Serpa): “People from the New Generation agency spoke to me and told me that if they had money they would take them to Portugal to work. I paid 4.000 dollars for the plane ticket, home and work contract, having arrived in Portugal on the day 7 July. After arriving in Lisbon, people were waiting and asked for more 500 euros to pay rent. I came straight to Pias, land I've never heard of. I was dropped off at the house and never worked since the day I arrived. then we came here (Serpa Pavilion) where we are treated well. Speaking Portuguese has helped”.
Faustino Barreto, 30 year old, not (lived in Pias, Serpa, which was closed and is housed in the Multipurpose Pavilion of Serpa): “My situation was like that of Isac and the group of 21 that we came that day. I have a son with 7 years and came to Portugal with the aim of giving you a better future, but in the end we were deceived. Paguei at New Generation 4.000 dollars, my family went to great lengths to get the money, then i was abandoned and i never worked a single day. Despite what I'm going through, I'd like to stay in Portugal to work, because I speak Portuguese”.
Aleixo Gonçalves, 35 year old, not (Lived in Cabeça Gorda, Beja. He is housed and eats at Cáritas Diocesana de Beja): “An acquaintance said he could bring me to Portugal to work if he had the money. I borrowed money from friends and paid 2 thousand and such dollars (the fear of saying the real value was perceived). I arrived in Lisbon on the day 9 July and someone was waiting and took me to Cabeça Gorda, then they asked me for more 100 dollars to be able to have the employment contract, but I never got to work. The family has sent a little help. I'm just worried about not having a job and there are a lot of people in the same situation. I am willing to work as a kitchen helper or even in construction. At Caritas they treat me well, but it won't last forever".
Alberto Matos, SOLIM-Immigrant Solidarity: “The appeal made by the President of the Republic for the Timorese to come to Portugal, was taken advantage of by the local mafias who quickly organized themselves and began to bring people. It is necessary that in Portugal the new and old landowners are definitively held accountable, the owners of the land, since they are the ones who profit from the exploitation of workers. The institutions, SEF, GNR, PSP, ACT, Tax Authority and Social Security cannot work individually, it is necessary to cross data”.
Isaurindo Oliveira, President of the Diocesan Caritas of Beja: “After knowing the situation, Social Security referred citizens to Caritas. Has there been some rotation of inputs and outputs, but the number of four dozen citizens of that Asian country remains. There is a significant group, in particular the younger ones, who are from the beginning of this wave of new excluded people in the region. Something has gone wrong since the arrival of the Timorese, because many never worked. There was never much attention in previous situations, because in one month more than a hundred Timorese were abandoned”.
New regime for the entry of immigrants in Portugal comes into force in November.
The new regime for the entry of immigrants in Portugal comes into force at the beginning of November, starting a six-month visa for a foreigner to seek work in the country, according to a decree published on Friday.
Among the new measures is the creation of a visa of limited duration that allows the legal entry of immigrants in Portugal with the objective of looking for work..
This visa to look for work in Portugal is valid for 120 days and may be extended for more 60 days, being granted at Portuguese consular posts, which it immediately communicates to the Aliens and Borders Service and the Employment and Vocational Training Institute (IEFP).
Also citizens of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) will have a visa facilitation regime in Portugal within the scope of the agreement on mobility between CPLP member states.
according to the decree, CPLP citizens can obtain a job search visa or CPLP residence visa.
“These requests must be granted outright, unless the applicant is identified in the Schengen Information System as the subject of a return alert or an alert for the purpose of refusing entry and stay. The consular authority immediately informs the SEF of the granting of the aforementioned visas”, refers to the decree.
The new regime ends the quota regime for immigration, facilitates the obtaining of a residence visa for foreign students who attend higher education in Portugal and allows the granting of a residence or temporary stay visa to digital nomads.
The latest data from the SEF indicated that the foreign population residing in Portugal exceeds 800.000 people, the Brazilian one being bigger, estimated at more than 250 thousand.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
