“From January to August, reported crime levels fell by 6.4%, with 16,000 fewer crimes reported. The numbers we have show that crime has fallen in Portugal, but we also know that violent crime has increased”, said António Leitão Amaro in parliament.

Questioned in the parliamentary committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees about the relationship between immigration and crime, the minister refused this association and generalisations.

“We cannot ignore the fears and perceptions of the Portuguese, but we must not encourage them either. Indecent generalisations are not acceptable, nor are statements of false associations” such as that linking immigration and crime, “which the reality and numbers deny”.

The minister agreed with the deputies' concern “with the increase in violent crime”.

However, he considered the point to be this: “We treat crime as a problem of crime and order and in need of oversight and not as a problem of stigmatisation and creating hate in public discourse.”