Welcome to the Week em Breve, a wrap-up of important Portuguese news to keep you up to date and in the know.

Dozens of immigrants found living in disused restaurant under “inhumane conditions”

The basement of a shuttered restaurant in the Lisbon neighborhood of Arroios was discovered to house over 30 undocumented workers in unsafe and inhumane conditions, after public noise and odor complaints were investigated by a joint task force led by Arroios Parish Council and Lisbon Municipal Police. 

Speaking with Público, Arriois Parish Council President Madalena Natividade described the inhabitants as victims of slumlords and “mafia” networks, who manage unsafe and overcrowded dormitories, adding that there is evidence suggesting the workers who slept there “paid between 180 and 200 euros per month” in rent.

Planned gold mine in Lagoa Salgada will present serious health and environmental risks, rights groups warn

A new gold mine in Lagoa Salgada set to open in 2027 plans to process metals and minerals with sodium cyanide, a “highly toxic substance, with widely recognized risks,” according to a statement signed by a coalition of organizations including environmental rights group Zero, the Grândola Farmers’ Association, and others. 

Despite the known dangers of sodium cyanide, which is water-soluble, the mine is currently planned to tap into the local groundwater for all of its water consumption, which could lead to severe contamination of the area’s water resources.

In an environmental impact report released in April, Redcorp – the company heading the mine project and a subsidiary of Canadian mining giant Ascendant Resources – stated that the use of other, less toxic processing materials would “make the project unfeasible from a technical and economic point of view.”

Portuguese textile giant Coindu files fourth redundancy in 18 months

Portuguese industrial manufacturer Coindu, which produces plastic, leather, and fabric upholstery for luxury car brands, announced on Sunday their fourth collective dismissal in less than two years, leaving 123 workers out of a job and another 237 on a six-month suspension. Since 2022, Coindu’s workforce has shrunk from 2,100 to 1,170 as of Sunday’s announcement, according to Público, causing a great deal of worry amongst industrial workers. 

AIMA extends backlog mission structure until end of year

The current mission structure at the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (Agência para a Integração Migrações e Asilo – AIMA), brought into effect in July 2024 to tackle the backlog of nearly 900,000 residency applications and originally valid only until 2 June, will be extended until 31 December, 2025. 

As reported by PÚBLICO Brasil, who spoke with a source close to the matter, the extension will allow AIMA to prioritize processing immigrants from other Lusophone countries who were given residence permits printed on sheets of paper and changing them for plastic cards that meet European Union security standards.