Number of discrimination complaints soars

The number of complaints being lodged for discrimination rocketed last year to almost one per day.

in News · 24 Mar 2019, 07:35 · 3 Comments

According to Portugal’s Committee for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination, 346 complaints were made in 2018.

That is an increase of 93 percent compared to 2017, when 179 complaints were filed and almost 500 percent compared to 2014.

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Comments

My family doctor told me that he didn't feel like treating me, because I am English, and there are sick Portuguese people he would prefer to treat, even though the tests I was having were for a very serious life threatening illness. I should have complained as this is discrimination, and if doctors did this in the UK they would be struck off and have a lawsuit against them. I feel I have no doctor anymore, so suffer with no treatment.

By Jo from Algarve on 25 Mar 2019, 07:49

My daughter came to Portugal with only 2 months. She speaks fluently 3 languages including Portuguese. Because she has a foreign mother she has to have Portuguese classes separated from the "native" students with only her and one teacher. Reminds me more of segregation than integration. After 15 years it just doesn't make sense.

By Aj from Lisbon on 25 Mar 2019, 09:22

I am not Portuguese, but I have been living in a small city rich in Erasmus for two years insofar. Now I am fluent in Portuguese, but it took some five months to reach this level. During these early months, I was trying to communicate with the locals in their native language. Whenever the communication was getting harder, I would ask kindly to switch to English (which is itself not my main language, though). And all the time, I was repeated: "you are in Portugal. You must speak Portuguese", from the seller of hamburgers in front of the main disco for Erasmus to the policeman to which I was reporting a case of aggression (happened here for the first time in my life).

By Silvia from Other on 19 Apr 2020, 22:49