“Humanism” has been a favorite rhetorical prop in government speeches on immigration. It is a benevolent word, used to soften the crudeness of policies that, in practice, have followed the path of restriction. We will expel, but “with humanism”. Let’s separate families, but “with humanism”, and so on. If some harsh measures were necessary (such as the end of the Expression of Interest), others could have had truly “humanist” alternatives, and this path was not followed (see the restrictions on family reunification).
Interestingly, the news that could contribute to the much-desired “humanism” comes from two ministries that do not directly oversee the area of immigration.
First, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, which decided to start announcing, every month, both the numbers relating to immigrants’ Social Security discounts and the numbers of support they receive. Perhaps if you remember, every month, that their Social Security Contributions have increased 8.5 times in 11 years, this will help dismantle the narrative that immigrants “come to live at our expense”. And make us realize that we are almost closer to “living off them” than the other way around.
But as I wrote here some time ago, the anti-immigration discourse is not (just) concerned with money. He feeds on the visceral fear of the “other”, of the foreigner who threatens the supposed homogeneity of the neighborhood. This is where Luís Neves’ entry into the Ministry of Internal Administration gains symbolic relevance.
I remember very well the impact that Luís Neves had when we shared a panel at the DN 160th Anniversary Conference. The then director of the PJ recalled having an obligation towards the country, which could include combating misinformation regarding the myth that immigration causes crime to soar.
There he cited several statistics, from which it was clear that the security-populist discourse would not count on his connivance.
It is this person who will now head the ministry that supervises the police who are in charge of border control. And that is tremendously important. This ruler can effectively contribute decisively to lowering the tone of the second vector of the “anti-immigration” discourse: the fear of crime and insecurity
Once the fears about the economy and crime have been calmed, there remains one that is more difficult to combat: the fear of identity, which would require a very sensitive, transversal approach and at several levels (central and local), which the political power has not yet had the courage to take seriously. It’s just that humanism doesn’t just proclaim itself. It builds. Battle it out. Will this wait for a political maturity in the matter that insists on not arriving?
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