The SEF union that convened the plenary session at the Lisbon airport says that it will present a summons to the courts for the protection of rights, freedoms and guarantees after the Government has said that elements of the PSP will control the borders.
The president of the Border Investigation and Inspection Inspectors Union spoke with Lusa on limitations in the arrivals area of Lisbon airport Sunday due to the celebration of a plenary session of SEF workers between 6:00 and 9:00 a.m., which led the Minister of Internal Administration to announce the presentation of a contingency plan to avoid blockages in airport services.
Let’s go to the contest. we are going to present [em tribunal] a citation for the protection of rights, freedoms and guarantees. It has to do with the fact that we have doubts about the implementation of the law, that elements of the PSP and the GNR carry out border control work, taking into account that they are still powers that have not yet been assigned to them, due to the non-entry into force of Law 73. Either they make the law prevail in its entirety or we have doubts that they can carry out this type of work,” he stressed.
The Minister of Internal Administration considered, on Sunday, as “very serious” what happened at the Lisbon airport, with passengers on international flights from outside Europe who had to wait several hours at passport control.
José Luís Carneiro announced that during this week “a contingency plan that will mobilize various media” will be presented.including the “integration of Public Security Police agents in support of the Immigration and Border Service to guarantee a faster response”, specifically “in the referral”.
A Lusa, the president of the Border Investigation and Inspection Inspectors Union, Renato Mendonça, explained that Sunday’s plenary session was convened by union delegates at the request of the majority of Lisbon airport workers due to the extinction of the SEF.
“SEF is extinct, but it is not extinct and no one comes forward to explain what will happen to us in the future. That affects professional and family life, with the emotional stability of workers,” she said.
Regarding the situation that took place on Sunday at the Lisbon airport, Renato Mendonça said that this situation will continue to occur.
“It is a structural problem and this happens every day because in a short space of time at airports in the morning when there is more airport flow, reach 25 thousand people or more and there are only 16 service positions. It is impossible to get 25,000 people in only 16 positions. As long as this is not resolved, it will continue to occur,” she said.
Passengers on international flights from outside Europe who arrived at Lisbon airport on Sunday waited between four and five hours at passport control, after a plenary session of SEF workers.
In response to Lusa, the Immigration and Border Service (SEF) said that it was “unrelated to this initiative” and admitted that “The workers’ meeting will have affected more than 4,500 passengers”according to ANA Aeroportos estimates.
For its part, ANA Aeroportos considered the situation experienced at the Lisbon airport, in terms of passenger waiting times, as “unacceptable and very worrying”.
Source: Observadora
