Portugal’s caretaker government will expel around 18,000 foreign nationals living in the country without proper authorisation. The Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, announced the plan on Saturday.
The centre-right government will issue notifications to those individuals, asking them to leave. They will begin with 4,500 people, who must leave voluntarily within 20 days.
This decision comes ahead of Portugal’s early general election on 18 May. Prime Minister Luis Montenegro called the snap election after his government lost a confidence vote in Parliament and resigned.
Portugal has seen growing support for populist movements. The far-right Chega party secured third place in the last election.
