With a «significant number of immigrants in the community», Tavira inaugurated, on the 23rd of June, a Local Support Center for the Integration of Migrants (CLAIM) and signed a cooperation protocol with the High Commission for Migration.
This Center “will allow us to have a response of proximity to the immigrants who make life in the city of Tavira”, said Cláudia Pereira, Secretary of State for Integration and Migration.
Tavira is thus hosting the 126th CLAIM, at national level, which will start to work in a network with the National Center for Support to the Integration of Migrants (CNAIM) of the Algarve, along with the ten CLAIM already existing in the Algarve, including in Albufeira, Portimão , Loulé, Silves or the most recently inaugurated, Vila Real de Santo António.
"Our goal is to continue working to open more centers like this one," added the secretary of state.
This CLAIM, «being located almost in the center of the city, where people live, work or study, is very important to be able to have a proximity answer, to clarify any doubts they have, which become obstacles, so that they know that there is someone here to clarify them», explained the secretary of state.
Cláudia Pereira also stated that, in Tavira, «about 25% of the population is foreign, in a total of 6.275 citizens of 75 different nationalities» Already residing in Portugal, «according to data from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), if 660 foreigners, which corresponds to 7% of the Portuguese population».
The inauguration of this space took place after the signing of a cooperation protocol between the Municipality of Tavira and the High Commission for Migration, in the Main Hall of Paços do Concelho.
The Tavirense county already had an Immigrant Support Center, operating between 2004 and 2013, but it was deactivated when the Troika crisis affected civil construction, which was, at the time, one of the sectors that most employed immigrants.
Now, with the development of agriculture in the region, since 2016/2017, and with the increase in the number of people who chose this country and the municipality of Tavira to reside, «especially in recent years», the municipality felt the need to create this new center.
«For some time now we have felt the need to welcome these people, to help them, to have this proximity to also help them solve their problems, so that they obtain the useful information they need, from enrolling the kids in school even other issues of local dynamics», highlighted Ana Paula Martins, president of the Tavira City Council.
From the outset, the municipality began to outline a plan for the integration of these immigrants. With the pandemic and the fact that, in 2020, this community was at the origin of one of the first outbreaks of Covid-19 in Tavira, this center could have advanced, but the lack of municipal technicians did not allow it.
The municipality started working in a network right away, with all the limitations that the pandemic imposed, and the municipality intends to develop a municipal plan to integrate immigrants, leading them to learn the Portuguese language, involving schools in this process.
The CLAIM will allow "improving the relationship with the bodies of the Central Administration, seeking useful information and may even detect victims of human trafficking", having this fact been verified in the first outbreak of Covid-19 in the county, stressed the mayor.
Another of the tasks of the new space has to do with the inclusion and housing of these migrants, as it is “one of the biggest problems that these communities face, often with poor and overcrowded houses”.
The mayor highlighted one of the employers, "a good example in the county", which "provides a home for workers in a tourist resort in Tavira". "It is also necessary to sensitize the population, so that they are aware that not all warehouses or any place is suitable for receiving immigrants."
The local authority does not rule out the possibility of getting closer to this community, and is already thinking of «working directly with the agricultural companies» or even moving to the União de Freguesias Luz de Tavira and Santo Estêvão, «where there are a greater number of immigrants to reside” and “there to make the services, thus being closer to those who need help”.
Ana Paula Martins also admits the possibility of creating temporary accommodation next to agricultural holdings, an initiative that is similar to the one that the municipality developed for the homeless in the county.
For now, immigrants "who may need help to resolve bureaucratic issues, know they have a center here that can help them," concluded the Tavira mayor.
The Tavira CLAIM will start operating at the Transport Coordination Center (Rua dos Pelames), in Tavira, on Mondays to Wednesdays, between 9:00 am and 12:30 pm, and on Fridays, from 13:00 pm to 17:00 pm. to the Covid-19 pandemic, by calling 966 166 433 or by email [email protected].
Photos: Rúben Bento | Sul Informação
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