The Minister of the Presidency António Leitão Amaro attended on 4 and 5 June the V Ibero-American Forum on Migration and Development in Huelva, Spain, which gathered representatives of government, international organisations, businesses, and civil society from the 22 countries of the Ibero-American community to discuss the challenges of migration, integration, and international cooperation.

Throughout the two days of work, the Minister Ministro Leitão Amaro presented the Portuguese experience of building a regulated and humanist immigration policy, advocating that managing immigration should be based at the same time on promoting the legal means, fighting illegal immigration, integration, and respect for human rights.

During his speech, the Minister stressed that “migration is good for societies”, stressing the benefits it can represent for the host countries, the migrants, and their countries of origin.

At the same time, he cautioned to the risks of illegal and irregular migration, defending that “we must defend with the same strength the importance of being open to migration as the rejection of illegal, irregular, or uncontrolled immigration".

Speaking to the Forum participants, the Minister Leitão Amaro advocated an approach based on the balance between control and human rights, rejecting the idea that both goals are incompatible.

"We must not enter into a false dilemma between control and human rights. We must not only combine both, as we must acknowledge they are indispensable to one another”, he claimed.

The Minister added that “there is no dignified and legitimate control that does not respect human rights. And there is no long-lasting defence of human rights without social cohesion ".

Leitão Amaro also upheld boosting cooperation between the Ibero-American countries, namely through bilateral agreements and circular migration mechanisms, enabling a response to the labour market needs and fostering more effective migrant integration.

In the panel on fighting disinformation and hate speech on migration, the Minister alerted to the need to counter false narratives on foreign citizens and called for a fact-based public debate.

“Immigrants are not criminals. Immigrants are not parasites on the social protection systems”, he claimed, stressing that public policy must counter xenophobia and disinformation at the same time.

The Minister also deemed that the fear shown by part of the population with regard to swift changes in migration flows must not be ignored nor mistaken for extremist positions.

"Change generates fear. It’s part of human nature”, he claimed, upholding that the States must show the capacity to ensure control, integration, and social cohesion.

The O V Ibero-American Forum on Migration and Development brought together representatives from Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.