The Unidade Habitacional de Santo António (Santo António detention centre), opened in 2006, is an
immigration detention centre located in
Porto. As of 2009, it was the only officially designated detention centre for immigrants in
Portugal. The centre is managed by the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service (SEF) and falls under the authority of the
Ministry of Interior. As of 2007 it had a capacity of 30 adults and six children.
[The conditions in centres for third country nationals](_blank)
European Parliament Standing Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. Accessed 9 February 2010.
Many of the services for detainees held at the detention centre are provided by non-profit organizations. Through a 2006 Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Interior, the
International Organization for Migration, and the
Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), JRS-Portugal provides social and psychological services, as well as legal council to detainees. Additionally, the Swiss NGO
Médecins du Monde
''Médecins du monde'' (MdM; ), or Doctors of the World, is an international humanitarian organization which provides emergency and long-term medical care to the world's most vulnerable people. It also advocates to end health inequities.
It was f ...
ensures that detainees have access to medical and psychological consultations.
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In 2007, a delegation from the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), a standing committee of the European Parliament, visited the Unidade Habitational de Santo António. In their report, the delegation emphasised that while interviewed detainees said they were treated well, the overall detention conditions at the centre are severe.
References
External links
Global Detention Project
Detention in Europe (Jesuit Refugee Service)
Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras
Medicus mundi/Médécins du monde/Médicos do mundo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unidade Habitacional de Santo Antonio
Immigration to Portugal