There is a “glaring contradiction between this financial availability and the situation experienced by workers” at the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), for whom “there is not even less than one million euros to pay the productivity bonus promised” for their efforts to reduce backlogs, the STM said in a statement.

The STM thus expressed “its profound disagreement with Portugal’s decision to pay around eight million euros to the European Union to avoid taking in refugees, considering that this option reveals a clear lack of humanitarian commitment and a refusal to assume international responsibilities for the protection of vulnerable people”.

In the current global context, “marked by humanitarian crises and forced displacement,” the STM considered that this decision “sends the message that Portugal does not want migrants or refugees, preferring financial solutions to the adoption of reception and integration policies.”

The option also “moves the country away from a historical tradition of solidarity, symbolised by figures such as Aristides de Sousa Mendes, who placed the defence of human life above political convenience,” according to the STM.

The union also warned of “the risk of Portugal following a path similar to that of the United States of America, adopting increasingly restrictive and security-oriented policies that weaken the protection of foreign citizens, asylum seekers and refugees, in clear tension with the international commitments made by the Portuguese State.”

Regarding the delays in the payment of productivity bonuses, a promise made since the previous AD government, the STM recalled that “AIMA is one of the bodies that generates the most revenue for the Portuguese State, but its workers continue to face poor working conditions, lack of progression and lack of recognition”.

In view of the “extraordinary effort that has made it possible to clear around 700,000 pending cases, thanks to the dedication and spirit of sacrifice of a small team”, the STM considered it “unacceptable for the State to abandon international solidarity and, at the same time, devalue the workers who sustain the national migration system, reaffirming that it will continue to fight for the recognition, dignity and professional appreciation of migration technicians.”

According to European authorities, Portugal will have to pay €8.44 million to avoid receiving around 420 migrants under the European Union’s annual solidarity reserve for 2026, created to share the burden of migratory pressure across all Member States.

The government said it refused to take in the refugees because the official accounting of national return processes was far below reality, and submitted new figures, hoping that Brussels would review the process.

The Minister of the Presidency expressed confidence that, at the end of the negotiations, Portugal will not incur any fines.

The annual solidarity reserve for 2026 set a reference number of 21,000 for migrant relocations and a reference value of €420 million for financial contributions to the solidarity reserve.

Of the 21,000 migrants to be relocated, Portugal would be responsible for a quota of approximately 2%, or around 420 migrants, but the Government decided not to do so.

Solidarity commitments in the field of migration will begin to apply on 12 June 2026.