The issue of immigration is a prime target for misinformation in countries across Europe, and Portugal is no exception. EuroVerify takes a look at some of the claims by the Portuguese far right.
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00:00Portugal has been swamped by misleading immigration claims.
00:09The topic of immigration is a prime target for misinformation in countries across Europe,
00:14and Portugal is no exception. Andre Ventura, leader of the far-right Chega party,
00:19recently claimed that 20% of Portugal's current prisoners are foreigners,
00:23making a clear link between immigration and crime levels. At a recent demonstration in Porto,
00:28Ventura said that crime in the city has increased by 9% in the past year,
00:33and that 30% of arrests made in general are foreigners.
00:37We know that 20% of the current prison population are also foreigners, the Chega leader added.
00:42Let's see what the official figures say. An annual report by Portugal's Internal Security
00:46Agency for the year 2023 shows that the vast majority of the country's prisoners are Portuguese,
00:5283.3%. Foreigners account for 16.7% of inmates, meanwhile.
00:58Additionally, of the roughly 46,000 people receiving criminal sentences identified by
01:03the security agency, only 11.1% were from a country outside Portugal.
01:08On a separate occasion in the country's parliament, Ventura said that 344 women were
01:13raped in Portugal up to September, surpassing last year's figures. He said that many of these
01:19offences were committed by immigrants, and accused the government of looking the other way.
01:23Numbers from Portugal's Directorate General of Prison Services show that 131 people were
01:28serving prison sentences for rape as of 31 December 2023. Of those, 104 were Portuguese
01:35nationals and 27 were foreigners. That puts the percentage of rapes committed by immigrants at
01:40just under 21%, a clear minority. For more fact checks, take a look at euronews.com.