SOS Racismo reported, this Friday, that, over the last few days, an organized group carried out racist attacks against immigrants residing in Porto. Some of the victims had to receive hospital treatment.
In a released note, the movement explains that: “In recent days, an organized group of people formed a militia to invade homes and attack immigrants in the city of Porto. Using sticks, sticks and knives, this group beat several immigrants inside their homes. The attacks were planned and properly organized to spread terror and attack the largest number of immigrants. Homes were destroyed and several people had to receive hospital treatment.”
In view of this situation, SOS Racismo will carry out, this Saturday at 10pm, at Campo 24 de Agosto, in Porto, an action of solidarity with the attacked immigrants.
The news had initially been reported by Jornal de Notícias, which says that a group of six men, hooded, armed with bats, knives and a firearm, invaded, last Friday, the house where a dozen Algerian immigrants live. , in addition to a Venezuelan.
The attackers, for around 30 minutes, according to Jornal de Notícias, beat them, destroyed the contents of the house and hurled racist insults, leading one of the victims to jump out of the first floor window to escape the attacks, and is now hospitalized in Porto .
The Public Security Police, in addition to this incident, also recorded, on public roads, two other attacks of a racist nature, directed at citizens of Maghrebi origin, which may have been perpetuated by the same group.
One of the attackers is detained by police authorities in possession of a baton.
SOS Racismo explains, in the note, that it has witnessed “practices motivated by racial and xenophobic hatred, typical of far-right murderous groups”, which “act in concert because they feel legitimized”.
“Legitimated by the hate speech of the far right and by populist and racist narratives and speeches by senior political leaders, who have been making false associations between crime and immigration, providing the necessary fuel to fuel violence against immigrants and legitimize militias racist and xenophobic”, added the movement.
SOS Racism also accuses the State of passivity “in the fight against racism and xenophobia” which “can be seen in the chronic problems of Justice in this chapter, to which is added the ineffectiveness of the Commission for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination, which is not functioning since October 2023”.
The group demands “all political leaders to condemn these acts and to condemn all the hate speech that supports them, the Ministry of Internal Affairs to act immediately, providing police protection necessary to protect people, the Public Ministry to act quickly to arrest and bring to trial this group of criminals who cowardly act under hoods.”
The movement continues, demanding that the President of the Republic, the Assembly of the Republic and the Government “unequivocally condemn all this violence and take the necessary measures so that democratic institutions function, and, in particular, so that the Commission for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination works”.
