SOS Racismo denounces racist attacks by an organized group on immigrants in Porto

SOS Racismo revealed this Saturday 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.

The Porto PSP confirmed to the Renaissance three situations of aggression against immigrants in the early hours of Friday alone. According to the city’s district command, one of the situations occurred after the invasion of a home. Six men were identified and one person was arrested – a man with Portuguese nationality – who had a baton in his possession.

In this context, the movement announces for today, at 10pm, at Campo 24 de August, in Porto, an action of solidarity with the attacked immigrants.

“We are witnessing militia practices motivated by racial and xenophobic hatred, typical of far-right murderous groups. We cannot return here – ever again!”, reads the SOS Racismo statement in which it describes that “these groups 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”, denounces SOS Racismo.

He also criticizes the “passivity of the State 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 has been out of action since October 2023”.

They therefore demand “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 Prosecutor’s Office 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”.

According to this Saturday’s edition of Jornal de Notícias, a group of six hooded men, armed with bats, knives and a firearm, invaded on Friday the house where a dozen Algerian immigrants live, as well as a Venezuelan, to beatings, destroying the contents of the house and making racist insults.

During the half hour of terror, says that diary, one of the victims jumped out of the first floor window to escape the attacks. She is admitted to a hospital in Porto.