Minister of Internal Administration says that Portugal has zero tolerance for racism and attacks on immigrants are not acceptable

The Minister of Internal Administration, Margarida Blasco, classified the attack carried out last night on migrant citizens as “infamous”, reinforcing that “such behavior is not acceptable”. The minister was speaking to journalists in Figueira da Foz where she presided over the ceremonies marking International Firefighter’s Day.

Six men were identified and one was detained, for possession of an illegal weapon, following attacks on immigrants, in Porto, according to PSP spokesperson, Sérgio Soares, who updated the information saying that the judge ordered the detainee’s preventive detention .

“These are people who seek our country because it is a safe country and such a bad, vile situation happens… on behalf of the Government, I can say that tolerance is zero and we will maintain that zero tolerance, not to racism, not to acts of xenophobia”, said the governor.

In her statements, Margarida Blasco also stressed that “the preparation of security forces will continue to be one of our many priorities”.

The statements by the Minister of Internal Administration come after the alert from the organization SOS Racismo, which revealed that in recent days, in Porto, an organized group carried out racist attacks against immigrants residing in the city, a situation that forced several to receive hospital treatment.

“In recent days, an organized group of people formed a militia to invade homes and attack immigrants in the city of Porto. Using bats, 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. The homes were destroyed and several people had to receive hospital treatment”, reads the press release.

There were at least three incidents of attacks on immigrants on Saturday night, but authorities are still investigating the possible connection between them. Two immigrants were injured and taken to hospital

Given the suspicion of the existence of a hate crime, the matter was transferred to the Judiciary Police, he concluded.