The debate on public security and immigration in Portugal gained new contours after the Minister of Internal Affairs, Luís Neves, publicly admitted the possibility of including the nationality and country of origin of offenders in the statistics of the Annual Report on Internal Security (RASI).

 

The debate on public security and immigration in Portugal gained new contours after the Minister of Internal Affairs, Luís Neves, publicly admitted the possibility of including the nationality and country of origin of offenders in the statistics of the Annual Report on Internal Security (RASI).

Main Points of the Debate:

• Parliamentary Context: During the discussion in Parliament on RASI, the minister revealed that the next report (relating to 2026) may explicitly disclose the nationality of those involved in crimes.
• Government argument: Luís Neves argued that the measure is not discriminatory. According to the minister, the proposal had already been presented by himself while he held the position of national director of the Judiciary Police (PJ), justifying that it is essential for the State to know precisely who is and resides in the national territory.
• Focus on Real Threats: Despite strong political pressure and the focus of opposition parties (such as Chega) on immigration-related crimes, the minister reiterated that the biggest threat to internal security in Portugal remains drug trafficking, denying a direct and widespread correlation between immigration and the increase in crime.

The measure continues to generate divided positions in parliament, with left-wing parties warning of the risk of stigmatization of foreign communities, while right-wing parties insist on the relevance of this data for the formulation of security and border control policies.