The leader of the association regrets some “quite problematic” political statements that continue to “accentuate the narrative of greater insecurity and crime associated with the presence of immigrants.”
The leader of the SOS Racism association, Joana Cabral, criticized this Tuesday the reaction of politicians to the attacks against immigrants in the city of Porto and called for a global approach to the problems that are at the origin of the anti-immigration discourse.
“We think that the analyzes and comments are quite superficial”, with a “tone of shock” and a “recognition that violence is absolutely unacceptable”, but focus only on “moral condemnation, which is certainly important, but which is not it is”. “It’s enough,” she told Lusa Joana Cabral, who criticized some “quite problematic” political statements because they continue to “accentuate the narrative of greater insecurity and crime associated with the presence of immigrants.”
For Joana Cabral, “the “The problem with its severity and complexity is not being effectively recognized.”.
SOS Racismo is committed to supporting the victims and acting as an assistant in the case initiated against the group of suspects in attacks against immigrants.
We are witnessing “a growing increase in racial hatred on social media and that it is evidently contaminated, legitimized, naturalized and encouraged by the discourse of political figuresAnd “there is no strong enough speech” from the Government to counteract this trend, stated the leader of SOS Racismo.
“The idea remains that there are no solutions, because if there is no recognition of the problem in its complexity, there cannot be solutions naturally,” he added.
The leader gave as an example the little attention paid to racism in the government program, in which the issue is mentioned “almost in passing”, compared to other important social problems, such as violence against women or people with disabilities, that “these are urgent needs, of course.”
“In the case of racism, there is not a single concrete proposal” from the PSD/CDS governmentthe leader accused, recalling that this absence of positions on the part of the country’s leaders leads to a “vacuum” where “aggressions go unpunished,” recalling the murder of Alcindo Monteiro, in the 1990s, or the “fiction that was the raid [assalto em massa na praia de Carcavelos]”, at a time when there was “a political and cultural climate with narratives of criminalization of non-white and racialized people.”
This Tuesday, “we are witnessing a certain return of this environment”, with a “conjuncture in which Eurocentric and colonial imaginaries are parked in our social representations and are not adequately safeguarded because the reality of structural and institutional racism is not faced”, considered.
Joana Cabral also criticizes the political powers and the media for not addressing what SOS Racismo considers the core of the problem, real estate speculation and job insecurity, considering that these two issues allow a “narrative” in which immigrants steal jobs for the Portuguese and cause increases in housing prices.
In this context, “we will have an increase in social conflict between groups, in which the legitimate frustration of the Portuguese, white and poor or of workers with difficulties will increase this feeling of threat in relation to other people who are understood as the other” . which is why the narrative is always that of crime” and that “they are the ones who come to take away our jobs, they are the ones who come to take away our access to homes.”
According to the leader of SOS Racism, political power must take this issue seriously “and not fall into the temptation of taking advantage of what are pre-existing representations” of a part of society, seeking to “build on a simplistic explanation,” which acts “as a scapegoat for immigrant people”
In the case of Porto, the reaction of the mayor of the municipality also deserves criticism from SOS Racismo.
Rui Moreira claims that the attacks on immigrants in Porto are unjustified. And he defends the extinction of AIMA
“I think Dr. [Rui] Moreira is quite equivocal, because, on the one hand, fortunately and for the better, he is very peremptory and very forceful in the way he condemns and considers acts as absolutely unjustifiable”, but he also makes a “call for the extinction of AIMA.” [Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo] with the pretext of the difficulty in guaranteeing the security” of those entering the country.
AIMA “is absolutely ineffective,” Joana Cabral agreed, but considered that this discourse ends up directly linking immigrants with insecurity, instead of with integration, which is the main objective of the agency.
In the early hours of Friday there were three attacks and assaults on immigrants in the Campo 24 de Agosto area, on Bonfim Street and Fernandes Tomás Street, in Porto.
Group armed with batons and knives attacks Algerian immigrants in Porto
According to the PSP, the attacks were carried out by several groups and five migrants were taken to hospital due to their injuries.
Following the attacks, six men were identified and one was arrested for illegal possession of a weapon.
Due to suspicion of the existence of a hate crime, the case was investigated by the Judicial Police.
Source: Observadora
