Lisbon, Dec. 17, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's minister for internal affairs said on Tuesday that Lisbon airport is short of 34 PSP police officers to cover its needs and added that 10 border guard training courses are planned for next year.
"At the moment, 236 [PSP officers] are assigned to Lisbon airport, and the needs are 270," said Maria Lúcia Amaral in parliament, where she was heard at the request of Chega and the PS about the PSP's National Foreigners and Borders Unit and the long queues at border controls at Portuguese airports, the measures adopted, and the deadlines set for their resolution.
The minister stated that PSP officers must be accredited with the border guard training course organised by the European agency Frontex, and stressed that "without this course and without this training, it is not possible to place police officers at the airport".
The minister said that "10 border guard training courses are planned to be held in 2026".
"We need to train officers in 10 courses of seven weeks each. We will continue to train and thereby increase the number of staff," she said.
Regarding the total number of staff in the PSP's National Foreigners and Borders Unit, the minister indicated that there are currently 1,300 police officers, with the prospect of this number increasing to 2,000 during 2026.
With the abolition of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) two years ago, some of the responsibilities of this security service, namely airport border control, were transferred to the PSP, which, since 21 August, has expanded its responsibilities with the creation of the UNEF.
In addition to airport security and border control, which includes the Temporary Installation Centre (CIT) for foreigners in Porto (Santo António Housing Unit) and similar CIT facilities at Lisbon, Porto and Faro airports, UNEF is also responsible for the removal, readmission and deportation of irregular migrants, which had previously been assigned to the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA).
The new regime for the deportation of illegal immigrants, which the government recently approved and is currently under public consultation, will become the exclusive responsibility of the PSP.
CMP/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
