The Council of Ministers in Portugal has resolved to temporarily grant every migrant and asylum seeker in the country full citizenship rights.
The move was taken in a bid to allow these migrants and assylum seekers have full access to Portugal’s healthcare amid the spread of coronavirus pandemic.
The move according to the council will without any doubt guarantee the rights of every foreign citizen that has submitted pending applications to the Portuguese immigration office until June 30, as this foreign citizens is “in a situation of regular permanence in National Territory. “
Claudia Veloso, the spokesperson for Ministry of Internal Affairs said: “People should not be deprived of their rights to health and public service just because their application has not yet been processed,”
Claudia added that the rights of migrants must be guaranteed in these exceptional times.
A State of Emergency was declared in Portugal on March 18 and it became effective at midnight that day while it was supposed to last for 15 days. Also, the State of Emergency placed temporary internal land border controls with Spain and ensured external borders are sealed off for non-EEA travellers that wanted to come in for non-essential purposes.
The number of coronavirus cases in Portugal is 9,034, with 209 deaths and 68 discharged cases.
