Lisbon, Dec. 2, 2025 (Lusa) - The Police Professionals Trade Union Association (ASPP/PSP) has denounced the "great revolt" of police officers at Lisbon airport, who refute criticism that they are responsible for waiting times and accuse the political authorities of "inexplicable interference and pressure".
Two years after the PSP took over duties at Lisbon airport, despite all the positive results relating to police activity that ensures the integrity and security of the Portuguese border, it is waiting times that have been used to measure and assess the quality of the service provided by PSP professionals," the ASPP/PSP, said in a document on the situation regarding passenger control at airport borders, a responsibility that the PSP inherited two years ago from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF).
The document, sent to Portugal's minister for Home Affairs, the Inspectorate-General of Internal Administration, the national director of the PSP and political parties, the ASPP also reveals that it is with "great indignation that the police see their daily efforts undermined by commercial standards imposed by ANA, and thus adopted by the Portuguese Government, which aim exclusively to promote air connections through Lisbon, even if this means disregarding the security of the Schengen Area border and, with it, the Portuguese border".
The largest PSP union considers it "completely unrealistic" to set waiting times with the current structure, stressing that "it is exhausting for all police officers to be confronted daily with news about the PSP's inability to control passengers at the borders".
"Such allegations are false and a tremendous injustice to PSP police officers, who have placed Lisbon airport at the top of European refusal and fraud detection rates," it says, recalling that since SEF operated at Lisbon Airport, the same infrastructure and control positions have remained in place.
According to the union, the only substantial change was the adoption of a new computer system and, more recently, the entry into force of the new entry and exit system, which have increased waiting times, in addition to Lisbon airport breaking passenger records, which contributes "to the overload of an infrastructure that is inadequate for the volume of passengers passing through the border".
Recalling that the number of human resources that the PSP has in Lisbon exclusively assigned to border control is higher than that of the SEF, the ASPP considers "the lack of human resources to be a fallacy", since "the problem of waiting times at Lisbon airport cannot be solved solely by increasing human resources".
The ASPP sees the recent government order to reduce waiting times at Lisbon airport as "proof of pressure".
"This change requires the PSP to set up a crisis office and set a target of 100 days for the adoption of measures to comply with the new waiting times. However, this change does not result from any structural change or reinforcement of resources that increase passenger control capacity, but merely materialises a political intention, without any technical explanation or metrics, and is therefore doomed to failure," reads the document resulting from a plenary meeting held in November with police officers working at Lisbon airport.
The ASPP also denounces "political pressure surrounding Lisbon airport, driven by different ministries, hand in hand with ANA Aeroportos," noting that all police officers from the Foreigners and Border Control Unit of the Lisbon Command "are assigned to the airport."
The document, signed by ASPP president Paulo Santos, stresses that "the influence exerted is capable of diverting personnel from public patrols to serve private interests".
"Decisions that call into question the work carried out by police officers in the field of border control, which denote the interference and inexplicable pressure of political power, leading to changes in decisions to refuse entry," it states, also reporting the poor working conditions of police officers, such as the presence of rats and worn-out equipment.
In the document, the union also mentions the lack of conditions for foreign citizens who are refused entry into the country, who have to remain in the international zone and are only provided with a camp bed and are often deprived of a bath and personal hygiene, creating "a nauseating environment".
The ASPP also points out that "there are not even the minimum conditions at the border control station to interview families, unaccompanied minors, victims or vulnerable people".
"Police officers have been subject to external and internal pressure, misinformation, undignified working conditions, work without breaks, repetitive and prolonged work, discrediting of their work and lack of recognition, has led to a situation of discouragement, stress and, in some cases, exhaustion among professionals," the document states, calling for intervention by the MAI and a position from the national leadership of the PSP.
CMP/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
