Former PS Secretary of State for Local Authorities condemns inhumanity in Loures

Former Secretary of State for Local Authorities and former Socialist mayor Carlos Miguel today condemned the actions of the Loures City Council (PS) in the process of demolishing illegal houses, considering it inhumane towards families.

"My reaction as a citizen and a socialist is not so much whether the city council acted within the legal deadlines to do what it did and which was suspended by the court, and for some reason it was, but rather that there is no justification for leaving people exposed to that inhumanity and that intolerable situation," said the socialist.

For the former lawyer and former advisor to the High Commission for Migration, if there was no court order for the city council to demolish the illegal buildings and if they are not on municipal land, "there is no reason" for what is happening.

The socialist stressed that these are “situations of great human indignity without any plausible motive”, to which “one cannot remain indifferent”.

“They cite health reasons, but what is more unhealthy: living in a tent or living without a tent, without a roof, under the canopy of a tree?” he asked.

Recognizing that "these are very, very difficult situations to resolve" and that no municipality has the competence, nor does it have fifty homes to allocate from "one day to the next", he first pointed to partnership solutions between the central and local administrations before the demolitions.

“I remember a case of this gravity in Seixal that was resolved in partnership,” recalled the former Secretary of State for Local Authorities.

"Without these conditions, it is preferable for people to keep their little corner sheltered from the rain, even with the minimum conditions, than to be left without that same corner where they can sleep and share a meal," he maintained.

The Loures municipality, headed by socialist Ricardo Leão, began on Monday an operation to demolish 64 precarious homes in Talude Militar, where 161 people live, including children and the elderly.

On that day, 51 precarious houses were demolished, to which four more were added on Tuesday, but in the meantime, the operation was suspended after the Lisbon District Administrative Court accepted a precautionary measure filed by a lawyer representing 14 residents of the neighborhood and decreed the provisional suspension of the demolitions.

The court considers that "the situation of special urgency has been verified", ordering notification of its decision "immediately and as expeditiously as possible", and also recalls that "the precautionary process is an urgent process", giving the municipality a period of 10 days to contest the decision, "without prejudice to the ruling".

The demolition of 55 precarious homes was carried out without any alternative housing, with the Loures municipality announcing on Tuesday that one of the families from Talude Militar “was sent to a reception center” and two others “to a hotel unit”.

Furthermore, the city council executive assured that the possibility of the council guaranteeing the payment of one month's deposit and another month's rent was presented, "as support for rentals in the housing market."

For two nights, families living in the Talude Militar neighborhood whose houses were ordered to be demolished have been sleeping in tents or in the open air, according to a municipal deputy.