Portugal’s President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, says he welcomes government proposals designed to attract emigrants back to the country, “wherever they come from.”
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said the problem is of national concern but praised those who left during the crisis and have done well, creating ‘little Portugals’ in other countries.
The ‘welcome back pack’ proposal from Prime Minister, António Costa, which includes income tax breaks for 'three to five years' and help towards moving costs, failed to please the head of the Communist Party.
Jerónimo de Sousa is not convinced that a drop in income tax is sufficient inducement to entice emigrants to return to Portugal in 2019 and 2020.
"These migrants must return to our country, but they won’t return just because of income tax. They will return if they have guarantees of employment, better wages and better rights to combat job insecurity," said the secretary general of the Communist Party.
The veteran politician said that the young people who decided to leave the country to look for better conditions have created a big problem for the country but he refuses to see penalised those that had remained here.
"They can not be penalised in any way just because they stayed here, in their own country, in their homeland, trying to solve their problems," said de Sousa.
One of the proposals that António Costa announced this Saturday during the Socialist Party’s summer gathering was to reduce income tax by 50% for rteturnees who also could deduct their travel and moving expenses.
Between 2011 and 2017, 764 533 people left Portugal.
