Kauê Matos, 19 years old, is deported from Portugal after AIMA's delay in releasing documentation — Photo: Personal archive
Before being deported from Portugal, 19-year-old Brazilian Kauê Matos spent four days detained in a room at Lisbon airport without being able to shower and, for the first two days, without seeing his family.
In an interview with g1, the student stated that the place smelled bad, the covers were dirty and the beds, similar to hospital stretchers, were in poor condition. On the first day, he preferred to sleep sitting up.
Kauê had lived in Portugal for two years with his parents and younger brother. Last month, upon returning from an exchange in Ireland, he was prevented from entering the country and taken to a room with other immigrants.
According to the young man, meals were served during the day, but there were no suitable conditions for taking a shower. He also claims that the agents did not give clear information about what would happen.
Communication with parents was made difficult by the poor internet connection at the airport. His mother was only able to see him in person two days after his arrest.
Taken to plane and removed before takeoff
In addition to the lack of information, Kauê reports that he received contradictory instructions during the period in which he remained detained.
On one of the days, he was taken to a plane bound for Guarulhos International Airport, in São Paulo. According to the student, only after getting on the aircraft did he discover that he would be deported.
Before takeoff, however, police officers removed him from the plane and took him back to the holding room. The agents said the deportation would no longer take place.
On the last night at the airport, Kauê believed he would remain detained for another night. Other passengers began to be called to board, but his name had not been announced.
Shortly before 11pm, however, immigration agents called him and informed him that he would be sent to Brazil.
According to the student, the police collected his cell phone and passport, placed the items in an envelope and told him he could only retrieve them after disembarking in Guarulhos. Before handing over the device, Kauê managed to send one last message to his parents, asking them to try to prevent the deportation.
The family and lawyer claim that they were not officially notified about the deportation nor did they receive information about the flight. A professor from Kauê identified the aircraft and notified the student's relatives in Brazil to pick him up at the airport.
“I am extremely angry because no one told my parents that I was being deported,” he said.
Delay in regularizing the family
Kauê's migratory situation began to get complicated in 2024, when the family arrived in Portugal. Parents filed requests for regularization through the so-called “expression of interest”.
This mechanism allowed foreigners to enter Portugal as tourists and, after obtaining a work contract or starting an independent activity with contributions to Social Security, request a residence permit.
According to the family, the process, which was supposed to be analyzed in 90 days, took two years.
At the time the requests were presented, Kauê was 17 years old. The intention was that, after his parents' regularization, he would request authorization to live in the country through family reunification.
The decision that authorized the mother to reside legally in Portugal came out at the beginning of this year. His father's was granted on the same day that Kauê was detained at the airport.
During the wait, however, the young man turned 18. According to the family's lawyer, Renato Teixeira, this prevented his case from being resolved in the way initially planned.
The alternative would be to apply for a residence permit as a student, as Kauê attends high school in Portugal.
Family was unable to schedule
According to Renato, Portuguese legislation provides for the granting of this type of authorization. To submit the request, however, Kauê needed to access a form from the Agency for Integration, Migrations and Asylum (AIMA), which, according to the lawyer, was not available on the agency's website.
The other possibility would be to schedule the appointment over the phone, but the family claims they were unable to contact the agency.
"You make hundreds and hundreds of calls, sometimes you spend five hours trying to call AIMA and no one answers. You send an email asking for an appointment and get no response," said Renato.
It would also be possible to go to court to force the agency to provide assistance, but, at that time, the family did not have the financial means to hire a lawyer.
Renato states that the problem affects other immigrants, who end up having to go to court to access procedures that should be administratively available.
Request was accepted after deportation
Upon arriving in Brazil, Kauê received the news that the process that could allow him to stay in Portugal had been accepted.
"If I had been there, I would have been at home in Portugal right now, because they accepted. If I hadn't been deported at that time, I would be free at home, with my parents and my brother," he said.
The lawyer is now studying the best way for the student to return to the country. Kauê's classes resume in the second half of September, and the family tries to prevent him from missing the school year.
When contacted, AIMA stated that requests for nationality or citizenship are the responsibility of the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN) and that border control is the responsibility of the Public Security Police (PSP).
"AIMA clarifies that nationality/citizenship requests are the responsibility of the Institute of Registries and Notaries. On the other hand, border control is the responsibility of the Public Security Police, so AIMA has no comments to make on the alleged situation", he informed.
The Institute of Registries and Notaries and the Public Security Police of Portugal were also contacted by g1, but did not respond until the publication of this report.
*Supervised by Alexandre Bazzan
