Luanda, Oct. 29, 2025 (Lusa) - The director of Portugal's central immigration unit of the Public Security Police said on Wednesday in Luanda that the police are aware of the danger of religious and political radicalisation among some immigrant communities in Portugal.
When listing the challenges that immigration poses to national security and police work at the International Seminar on Public Security, taking place in the Angolan capital, Luanda, Hugo Palma said that the Public Security Police (PSP) is monitoring some immigrant communities “very closely” and recognises “the danger of radicalisation, whether religious or political”.
"This is a reality, not only for those who come to Portugal, but also a problem for some groups that are already in Portugal," said the director of that unit, which belongs to the PSP’s National Foreigners and Borders Unit.
Hugo Palma, who was speaking on the panel on “the phenomenon of irregular immigration and its implications for the national security of the Member States of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP)”, acknowledged the PSP’s concern about radicalisation, which “obviously strongly undermines the cohesion” of the country.
Superintendent Hugo Palma recalled that in 2017 there were nearly 400,000 foreign citizens registered in Portugal and in eight years the number rose to 1.5 million.
"That's more than a million people from other countries who have chosen Portugal to enter, to work, study and live. As you can see, this represents an extraordinary challenge," said the PSP officer.
According to the official, the volume of immigrants in Portugal also poses social challenges, namely the need to ensure that they have access to essential goods, such as healthcare, education and social support.
"This is also a debate that concerns us directly, because it then causes the phenomenon of transfer to what is our reality, the criminal networks that take advantage of migration, human trafficking and also the criminal groups that are already established in our country and that take advantage of this large flow to lure them and bring them into their criminal activity," he noted.
He argued that the large influx of immigrants into Portugal “may eventually exhaust” Portugal’s capacity “to receive these people”.
“And finally, because we have recently experienced the Covid-19 pandemic, I would like to raise the issue that this poses some health risks to public health,” he concluded.
The International Seminar on Public Security took place within the framework of the 6th Meeting of Ministers of the Interior and Internal Administration of the CPLP, which ends on Friday in Luanda.
DAS/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
