The Portimão Chamber participated in the 1st Inclusion Policies Laboratory (“Policy Lab”), which took place on the 9th and 10th of October, in Lisbon. This initiative of the Portuguese Network of Intercultural Cities (RPCI), which aimed to debate issues related to human rights and «that will improve the way in which the country receives and integrates migrants and refugees».
The event, under the theme “Migrants: challenges and opportunities”, “is aimed at promoting multi-governance in areas of competence shared by the different levels, with a view to implementing a platform that promotes robust and permanent dialogue between policy makers at national and local level on the theme of the integration of migrants and refugees”, according to the Portimão Chamber.
For two days, workshops and conferences were held with the presence of "legislators, government and city representatives to debate the application of legislation regarding the inclusion of migrants, refugees and ethnic minorities".
«Among the topics under discussion, the Regularization of Work, Health, Education, Housing and Civic Participation, in the context of interculturality, stands out», considered the municipality of Portimo.
In the short/medium term, “a task force will be created to keep this dialogue active and implement relevant measures for a more solidary society and a reference in the issues of diversity and inclusion”.
Portimão joined the Portuguese Network of Intercultural Cities in 2016, “increasingly assuming itself as a tolerant and supportive city towards migrants from 70 different nationalities who live and work here”.
It was in this context that the Local Support Center for the Inclusion of Migrants (CLAIM) was created, also since 2016, which «is increasingly a space for reception, information and support for migrants who find solutions to the obstacles to overcome in an adaptation to a new life».
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