Paulo Estêvão highlights publication of revised legislation on social mobility aid in Official Gazette - Communication

Secretaria Regional dos Assuntos Parlamentares e Comunidades

The Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities, Paulo Estêvão, welcomed today the publication of the amendments to Decree-Law on the social mobility aid in the Official Gazette, which has been extended to all immigrants residing in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, thus eliminating a glaring injustice and discrimination.

Speaking after a visit to the Association of Immigrants in the Azores (AIPA), in Ponta Delgada, Paulo Estêvão stated that the Azores "have set an example in terms of integration" with this solution, approved retroactively to January 1, praising the active role of parties, political agents and civil society in this matter.

"According to the most up-to-date figures, we are talking about more than three thousand people" affected by the situation, he emphasised, speaking to the press.

"The Autonomous Region of the Azores has set an example of concern for our immigrants," he noted.

Paulo Estêvão also highlighted AIPA's "extraordinary work" in this matter as in all others, ensuring the Regional Government's efforts to acknowledge the institution's role.

The social mobility aid for national air travel of residents in the Azores, created in 2015, took on a restrictive interpretation in November 2024, excluding immigrants residing in the Region who are not from European Union member states or Brazil.

The Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, at the proposal of the coalition parties supporting the Regional Government, then unanimously approved a preliminary draft law submitted to the National Assembly to "clarify the law and correct its interpretation." It even resorted to the legal procedure of a request for urgent parliamentary debate.

Following this decision, the Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities travelled to Lisbon to meet with the parties represented in the National Assembly, urging them to "speed up and approve the resolution of this problem," which they eventually did, with the unanimous approval of the text in question.