In Portugal the Catholic organizations are contesting the new law on immigration approved last week. In a document presented to the President of the Republic on 10 December, the organizations – including the Catholic charity for immigrants run by the Episcopal Conference, Portuguese Caritas, and the Jesuit Service for Refugees – listed a series of recommendations which have not been taken into consideration. They included, explains Father Rui Pedro, secretary of the Episcopal Commission for migration and tourism, “the request for a moratorium for illegal immigrants, especially in view of the fact that, though their position has not been regularized, they still have to pay taxes and contributions; the creation of structures in the countries from which immigrants come (in the Ukraine and Moldavia, for instance, a Portuguese consulate does not even exist); and opportunities to obtain work permits and facilitate the reunification of families. None of these suggestions is taken on board in the new law, which is more restrictive, as indeed is the case in various European countries”. In Portugal there are some 440,000 regular immigrants (their number has doubled over the last four years, mainly coming from Ukraine, Moldavia, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde). Estimates on the number of clandestine immigrants vary between 50,000 and 200,000; they are mainly employed in less regulated sectors, such as construction work, domestic staff and in the tourist and restaurant businesses.
