“A failure of this nature has to lead to the immediate replacement of whoever has this responsibility at the airport. This was the orientation that was transmitted to the National Directorate of the SEF [Foreigners and Borders Service]. Because, when it is detected that there is an overconcentration of arrivals, there is a contingency team that is mobilised by the national director of the SEF”, said José Luís Carneiro in an interview published in the Público newspaper.

“It was not mobilised last Monday because this failure was not reported. But it has already been mentioned that it cannot be repeated”, adds the minister.

According to the official, the plan to reinforce resources at airports, namely in Lisbon, involves increasing the human resources of the PSP and SEF and the electronic means of identification of passengers who disembark in Portugal, along with the constant monitoring of what is happening at airports.

With regard to human resources, José Luís Carneiro says that the reinforcement, “which is foreseen in the contingency plan, will be fully developed by July 4th”.

“And we have just taken the decision to bring forward this reinforcement period between eight and 15 days, depending on availability”, he advances, adding that, currently, “there is already a reinforcement of SEF and PSP employees”.