EVENT

SÍLVIA VIEGAS PARTICIPATES IN A DEBATE ON HOUSING AND IMMIGRATION IN LISBON 

On 28 February 2023, CIAC researcher Sílvia Viegas participates in the debate Onde Cabe Um, Cabem Logo Dois ou Três, which discusses housing overcrowding and immigration in Lisbon. The event takes place at the Camões Library in Lisbon and has free admission.

The debate addresses a tragic event that happened in Mouraria, which led to the death of two immigrants and two dozen injured, following a fire that occurred in a situation of housing overcrowding, which uncovered the reality of immigrant housing in Lisbon.

In Portugal, the access of the most vulnerable immigrants and refugees to adequate housing remains largely conditioned, taking into account, on the one hand, the structural conjuncture of pending neoliberal consolidation in recent years and, on the other hand, the problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic situation. The crisis particularly affects residents of the Lisbon metropolitan area-where demographic and migratory pressure is most significant-who face difficulties in exercising their rights. In this context, with different backgrounds and cultures, many immigrants and refugees are deprived of the right to the city, sometimes being the target of racist and xenophobic attacks.

However, the policy response in the areas of Housing and Migration by the central government level has been very robust lately. Similarly, several public institutions aim to respond positively to the warning challenges launched by organized civil society, which, in a resistant and resilient way, denounces segregation practices and finds inclusive alternatives.

In addition to Sílvia Viegas, the event is attended by António Brito Guterres (Dinamia CET ISCTE), Inês Andrade (Associação Renovar a Mouraria), José Falcão (SOS Racismo), Miguel Coelho (President of Santa Maria Maior parish council), under the moderation of Frederico Raposo (Mensagem de Lisboa).