Europe’s last door open to immigrants

It makes sense to know that South Asian workers maintain the region’s mainstay orchards.

Meshu Khatri, 36, a Nepali immigrant, picks raspberries and strawberries in a greenhouse around San Teotonio, while his wife Ritu, 28, runs a café called Nepal in the town.

Their 7-year-old son speaks a little Portuguese and English, but no Nepali.

Katri moved to Portugal in December 2012 after working in Belgium. She said: “I came here because it was difficult to get a residence permit in Belgium. It’s easy to get documents here.”

Five years after arriving in Portugal, he obtained residency, and two years after that he obtained a Portuguese passport.

While most immigrants in other European countries face a deliberately unconvincing obstacle course to obtain documents, resulting in many working illegally, the opposite is true in Portugal.

Immigrants are quickly absorbed into the legal economy and pay taxes and social fees immediately.

Although the agricultural areas of the Alentejo region have been declining in population for decades, the population of the municipality that includes San Teotonio has increased by 13 percent in the past decade.

Immigrant farmworkers have brought life back to areas severely affected by the exodus.

Portugal, which has Europe’s most open immigration system, has seen its foreign-born population double in five years, thanks in part to South Asians who came to work in agriculture, fishing and restaurants.

The influx has been facilitated by the socialist government in power since late 2015, but the situation could change if the country moves to the right after the March 10 general election.

“We need them.”

One million foreigners lived in Portugal last year, up from less than 500,000 in 2018, according to provisional figures provided to AFP by the national integration, migration and asylum agency AIMA, accounting for 10% of the population. It is said that it is equivalent to one person.

Brazilians, who have long historical ties to Brazil, remain the largest force (approximately 400,000 people), followed by British and other Europeans.

But the 58,000 Indians and 40,000 Nepalis already outnumber those from former Portuguese African colonies such as Angola and Cape Verde.

Bangladeshis and Pakistanis are also currently among the top 10 new arrivals.

“The main reason why immigration numbers are increasing in Portugal is because we need them,” AIMA director Luis Goes Pinheiro said, adding that the country has the fastest aging population in Europe after Italy. .

Far from the “sea of ​​plastic” of greenhouses around San Teotonio, Luis Carlos Vila also relies on foreign workers to pick apples in his remote corner of the northeast.

“There is no other choice,” he told AFP. “The population is aging and there are no more agricultural workers.”

Six Indians were hard at work in his orchard at Carazeda de Anciaes. “I love Portugal,” said Happy Singh, a Punjabi Sikh, in broken English. “Money is good, jobs are good, future is good. India has no future.”

Villa employs foreign workers completely legally through employment agencies, and they include a little bit of their own family history in their work. “His father also had to move (to France) to make a living,” he said.

“A generous country”

Even in Portugal’s most traditional fishing communities, such as Casinas near Porto, which embody Portugal’s strong maritime heritage, half of the crew is made up of Indonesians.

At the helm of the 20-metre-long trawler Fugitive, José Luis Gómez – a captain like his father and grandfather – says his compatriots are no longer willing to do the grueling job when there are better salaries elsewhere. I accept the fact that I don’t want to.

Javanese fisherman Seyful Al-Dani had signed a fourth 18-month contract with Gomez.

“There are no problems with the Indonesian fishermen working here, and our families back home are relieved that we are not illegal,” a 28-year-old man hired through a boat owners’ association told AFP. Told.

Portugal, a country of immigrants throughout the 20th century, became a destination for immigrants in the 21st century.

“By any measure, we are one of the most generous countries in Europe when it comes to immigration,” said Jorge Malheiros, an immigration expert at the University of Lisbon.

Since 2007, Portugal has provided documentation to everyone who declares their income.

In 2018, the socialist government extended this to illegal immigrants.

A new amendment in 2022 granted six-month temporary visas to foreigners looking for work.

“More racism”

“Portugal’s laws are not perfect, but they are better than many countries with backward policies,” said Timoteo Macedo of the Immigrant Solidarity Group.

While these laws have prevented people smuggling tragedies elsewhere and immigrants living in constant fear of deportation, they have not stopped “those who make money off of human misery.” No, Macedo added.

Authorities have dismantled a human trafficking network in the Alentejo region where farm workers were forced to live in unacceptable conditions.

Leaning at the counter of a cafe in San Teotonio, Mesh Khatri acknowledged that the influx of foreigners has brought new challenges.

“It used to be easier to make a living, but now there is more racism. I hate it,” his wife Ritu added.

Julia Duarte volunteers at a charity shop right next to the center where she helps about 20 children with their homework, only one of whom has a Portuguese name. .

The 78-year-old from Alentejo worked in Lisbon before returning to San Teotonio to retire. “She thought she would be able to live out her retirement in peace, but an avalanche of migrant workers poured in,” she said.

“There are a lot of people, there is a lot of hustle and bustle, everyone is looking for work and a place to live…

And I realized that they are kind people.

family reunion

Anti-poverty NGO Taipa has changed its focus to supporting immigrant integration.

“Ten or 15 years ago, we weren’t ready for this,” admitted Teresa Barradas, its director. “This is huge for a community that’s kept to itself and isn’t used to such huge cultural differences.”

But the biggest problem for immigrants, she added, is the lack of homes, “especially for families.”

Portuguese law allows for family reunification, which “plays a big role in combating prejudice because you know your neighbors are family members whose children went to the same school as yours,” Barradas said. Ta.

Mr. Pinheiro, head of the National Integration Agency, agrees. “Family reunification is critical to ensuring the full integration and settlement of migrants, especially in rural areas.”

AIMA, which was created late last year after the abolition of the Border Police Agency, took over a backlog of 350,000 regularization applications.

In the capital, Lisbon, there are visibly more South Asian bicycle couriers than ever before.

During Friday prayers, hundreds of Muslims line up to enter one of two mosques in the narrow streets of the medieval Mooraria neighborhood.

“Bangladesh Street”

Yasir Anwar, a 43-year-old Pakistani, said its main street, Benformoso Street, is now so full of Bengali-language shops and restaurants that it is nicknamed “Bangladeshi Street.”

He arrived visa-free in 2010 after brief stays in Denmark and Norway. He was under threat of deportation until he managed to get the documents thanks to a 2018 law change.

After roaming the city selling flowers in bars and restaurants, Anwar got a job as a restaurateur, who taught him Portuguese and how to cook Portuguese food.

He is currently waiting to obtain Portuguese citizenship, which is normally obtained after a five-year legal stay, and hopes to one day bring his wife and two children with him.

“When I arrived, we had nothing,” said Anwar, who now works as a volunteer with Immigrant Solidarity. Since then, “Portugal has become a good country for immigrants, welcoming them with open arms.”

Despite the recent rise of the far-right Chega party, polls show that “immigration is not seen as a pressing issue in Portugal and, unlike in other European countries, reactions to immigration remain positive.” Pinheiro said.

Even though Chega, which was only formed in 2019, has nearly 20 percent support ahead of the election, immigration is currently only seventh on the party’s list of manifesto priorities.

© 2024 AFP