Thousands of protesters waving Portuguese flags and roaring the national anthem rallied in Lisbon on Sunday to express their anger at “illegal” and “uncontrolled” immigration.
The demonstrators marched behind banners demanding the “end of mass immigration” and the expulsion of immigrants guilty of crimes at the protest called by the far-right Chega party, the country’s third-largest political force.
Immigration is “very good” but “rules are needed,” said Cecilia Guimaraes, a 66-year-old teacher whose parents emigrated to Canada.
“We emigrated legally. That’s how it should happen in a developed country,” she told AFP, complaining of a rise in insecurity she fears is linked to foreign arrivals.
Chega lawmaker Rui Afonso said Portugal and other European countries were unable to control entries, which generated a “feeling of insecurity” because “we don’t know their past”.
Afonso added that European nations were ill-equipped to “decently” take in immigrants who were sometimes “forced to live …