Braga, Portugal, June 5, 2026 (Lusa) - The president of Portugal, António José Seguro, highlighted on Thursday the contribution immigrants make to addressing the labour shortage faced by Portugal’s charitable organisations, thereby ensuring the continued operation of these institutions.
Speaking at the opening of the 15th National Congress of the Misericórdias in Braga, Seguro pointed out that, in many places, immigrants care for Portugal’s elderly.
“It is good that many people realise that, in many places, it is immigrants who care for our elderly,” he said.
He referred to an interview with the President of the Union of Misericórdias, Manuel Lemos, in which he noted that “in the Alentejo region, all the Misericórdias have staff from six to seven different nationalities”.
“It is they, often working in silence, who sustain what would be a social collapse without their presence. It is these people, nationals and immigrants alike, to whom we also owe a word of thanks and recognition for their work, which is often little recognised by society, but also for their dedication, their care, their love and commitment to those they serve, which goes far beyond what can be expected in a job," he said.
Emphasising that it is the charitable organisations that “continue to be present where the state sometimes arrives late, provides too little, or is simply absent”, António José Seguro highlighted the importance of these institutions in employment, healthcare and social services.
“The figures speak for themselves and need to be stated, because they are rarely mentioned together. I’ll mention just a few: 388 charities, 158,000 people supported every day. 52,000 staff, 21 hospitals, 508 residential care homes for the elderly, 399 nurseries and pre-school facilities, 192 long-term care units,” he noted.
The Misericórdias are "the backbone of solidarity" in Portugal, he said.
"It is the country that works where, often, the Misericórdias are the only institution with a policy of community outreach. And in many inland areas of our country, they are the main source of employment," he added.
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