Lisbon, Sept. 12, 2025 (Lusa) - The president of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and Sao Tome and Principe (CEAST) said on Friday in Lisbon that there is an "unusual exodus" of Angolans abroad, a sign of the political power's inability to promote development.
"There is an unusual exodus, especially among young people. And this is worrying us," said José Manuel Imbamba at the final press conference of the 16th Meeting of Bishops of Portuguese-speaking Countries, held in Lisbon.
"We have drawn the attention of the ministers to this atypical phenomenon" because "Angola has everything it needs to retain its children and has everything it needs to prosper and develop, but the public policies that are being implemented have not been able to generate the expected development," he said.
This brain drain is due to "the lack of concrete local answers to the questions that young people are asking," he said, continuing that "there is a certain void in terms of the quality of answers regarding job security, schooling, or the guarantee of creating the middle class that has disappeared in Angola."
Angolan families are "increasingly impoverished," which "is causing this new flow of Angolan immigrants to Portugal and beyond," added the Archbishop of Saurimo, who points the finger at political leaders.
The lack of development is the "reason why young people, for the most part, are fleeing in search of better conditions and a better life for their families," said the official, who commented on the new Portuguese legislative package on migration and nationality, with more restrictive measures.
"Each country is sovereign when it comes to the laws it must make for its own good, but it is also true that mobility is inevitable today, and I believe that families are free to seek out the places and countries where they feel they can establish and build their dignity," he explained.
Therefore, "the policies of the future will have to deal with this reality. We cannot close our doors, we cannot close ourselves off in our nationalism, in our social selfishness," added Imbamba.
PJA/AYLS // AYLS
