“From October 29th we will have three times as many people controlling sea and land borders. We will increase by three times the number of personnel we will have in the regulation of maritime borders and also in the field of cross-border cooperation, particularly in road safety controls”, José Luís Carneiro told journalists.

This unit, which turns 15 years old, will be renamed the GNR Coastal and Border Control Unit with the extinction of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), as it will be responsible for monitoring, inspecting and controlling maritime borders and land, including cruise terminals.

According to the minister, to monitor and control the borders, 233 GNR officers received training from SEF, in addition to being temporarily assigned to this security force, the 80 SEF inspectors who already perform these functions.

The SEF extinction process is scheduled for Sunday and the powers of this security service will be transferred to seven organizations, with the police passing to the PSP, GNR and PJ, while the functions in administrative matters related to foreign citizens will go to the Institute of Registration and Notary (IRN) and the new Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), which comes into operation on Sunday.

The minister also guaranteed that “all issues are properly structured” in relation to border control and supervision and with regard to the country's security.