At the end their recent Forum in Lisbon (FORCIM), the Catholic organizations that deal with immigration issued a document in which they make some recommendations to improve the draft National Plan for Immigration (PNAI), which was officially presented by the Portuguese government on 18 December. The organizations make some observations of a general character, noting that the draft “presents an approach that is more reactive than preventive in type; it furnishes remedies, but fails to act on the causes of the problems”. Moreover, it “reveals an implicit centralizing intention of the actions of acceptance and integration revolving round the CNAI (National Centres for Support to Immigrants) run by the ACIME (High Commission for Immigration and Ethnic Minorities), thus weakening other already existing structures”. Indeed, the new policy assigns “an insignificant function to civil society, devaluing the important role played by the associations of immigrants, NGOs, private institutions of social solidarity, support centres (local and municipal), parishes and other social partners”. “A more far-sighted policy aimed at the further involvement and mobilization of civil society – says the statement – could, on the contrary, lead to an extension of effective ‘local networks’, especially outside the big metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto”. Among the positive aspects of the National Plan the Catholic organizations point out a “‘promised’ ministerial articulation and internal coordination of administrative, formative and social procedures, which could represent a valid response to the problem of red tape, disinformation and the ‘hellish’ difficulties encountered by immigrants, which have given rise to numerous situations of irregularity and clandestinity”.
