Integration policies : Portugal country report

INTERACT - Researching Third Country Nationals’ Integration as a Three-way Process - Immigrants, Countries of Emigration and Countries of Immigration as Actors of Integration In the last decades Portugal has become a new receiving country of international migration flows. This report seeks to provide an overview of immigrant integration policies in Portugal. Special focus is given to evolving integration policy tools and to the role of state and non-state actors in the promotion of migrants’ integration. Furthermore, the report also addresses local-level policies stressing new forms of governance and good practices. The implementation of a policy of inclusion and interculturality has brought major changes to immigration phenomena in Portugal, though the present-day economic and social crisis constitutes a major challenge to be dealt with, especially in a European context of rising anti-immigration discourses and xenophobia. INTERACT is co-financed by the European University Institute and the European Union.