The two unions representing the SEF inspectors consider this Wednesday that the problem of the queues at the Lisbon airport is related to infrastructure, regretting that only the Immigration and Border Service is criticized and accountable.
Electronic passenger classification and all counters in operation. Contingency plan for airports is presented this Tuesday
Speaking to the Lusa agency, after having presented the contingency plan for the border posts of the five Portuguese airports for the period from June to September 2022, the president of the Union for the Investigation and Inspection Career of the Immigration Service and Borders (SCIF-SEF), Acácio Pereira, stated that the issue of queues at airports it is “global, not just a Portuguese case” and in recent days there are “waiting times at the largest airports in the world.”
“In the case of the Lisbon airport there is a negative peculiarity, which is the fact that it is an outdated infrastructure, an infrastructure of the New State with patches and that does not adapt to the needs of the country at this time. It is desirable that an infrastructure be created from scratch, but unfortunately there is a focus on criticizing and pointing out responsibilities to a service when the responsibility is collective, of the various entities and of the State itself, which to date has not been able to provide Lisbon of a true international airport”, said Acácio Pereira.
Regarding the contingency plan, the trade unionist said that this “reinforcement is something that is repeated every year”, being “an exception to the greater movement of passengers that exists at this time of year”.
Regarding the reinforcement of human resources, that is, the SEF inspectors and the PSP agents, Acácio stressed that it is “possible at this time,” but declined to comment on the participation of the Public Security Police in the security service. frontline passengers.
According to the plan presented to the Ministry of the Interior, national airports will have a reinforcement of 238 elements of the SEF and PSP during the summer months, 82% more than the current number at border posts, this reinforcement of human resources being gradual and will stabilize on July 4.
In total, the five Portuguese airports will have 529 elements to carry out border controls on passengers coming from non-European Union countries.
In addition to reinforcing SEF inspectors throughout the country, this plan has 168 PSP agents and several technological solutions to Lisbon airport.
For his time, the president of the Sindicato dos Inspectors de Investigação e Fiscalização das Fronteiras, which on Sunday called the plenary session at the Lisbon airport and caused you to wait between four and five hours and did not control two passports, told Lusa “serious reservations” regarding this contingency plan.
“I know very closely the reality of the Lisbon airport and if there are no changes in the airport infrastructure, the plan is difficult to implement”, said Renato Mendonça.
The trade unionist considered that only with a change in the infrastructure is that “a reduction in waiting time is possible”, underlining that ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal ignored this investment for years and “in the midst of all this, the SEF was always the most weak”.
Renato Mendonça also said that media technologies announced “won’t help at all”since “they have already been used in the past and are much more time consuming”.
“It takes a long time for people to pre-register. These means are not yet in force because they have to be improved”, he explained, also expressing doubts about the reinforcement that will be done with the PSP agents.
The trade unionist stated that “everything is going to go wrong”, since it takes a year to train an SEF inspector and “now they are going to put PSP agents with a month of training to do the same functions as an inspector of the SEF.
The president of the Border Investigation and Inspection Inspectors Union said that for now they will not present a court summons for the protection of rights and freedoms because elements of the PSP began to control the borders.
Renato Mendonça said that on Monday they met with the Minister of Internal Administration, expressing José Luís Carneiro openness to start negotiations on the future of the SEF inspectors.
“We are going to wait a few days to see what the government’s response is and to see if there is good faith and the will to carry out collective bargaining,” he said, stressing that for now there are no plenary sessions or scheduled strikes. .
Renato Mendonça also affirmed that there is a request from the great majority of the inspectors of advance and toughen the challenge if the Government does not specify what will happen to the officials after extinction.
Within the framework of the extinction of the SEF, which in the meantime was postponed until the creation of the Portuguese Agency for Migration and Asylum (APMA), the police powers of the Immigration and Border Service will pass to the PSP, the GNR and the Judicial Police, while the current powers in administrative matters in relation to foreign citizens are now exercised by the APMA and the Institute of Registries and Notaries.
Source: Observadora
