Author
Overall conditions
In the absence of legal standards for the operation of CIT, the detention facilities at the border and the CIT – UHSA in Porto are managed by PSP pursuant to internal regulations.[1]
The general regulation governing the placement of foreign and stateless persons in CIT and EECIT has been approved by the Minister of Home Affairs in July 2020.[2] The regulation explicitly states that it is applicable to applicants for international protection, and that, in such cases, detention is subject to the rules provided by the Asylum Act.[3]
Following the transfer of competence for the management of administrative detention facilities to PSP, it is understood that PSP has internal regulations governing the functioning of the CITs; however, these are not publicly available.[4]
In January 2025, PSP published an information leaflet on the rules applicable to the EECITs, available in 18 languages.[5] The leaflet sets out, inter alia, that:
- Placement is always subject to judicial determination or validation;
- Detainees may be transferred between EECITs/CIT;
- The grounds for placement do not constitute a criminal offence;
- PSP manages the facility with the collaboration of IOM and the NGO Doctors of the World (MdM);[6]
- Detainees are entitled to visits from direct family members, lawyers, diplomatic or consular representatives, and national or international human rights organisations;
- Access to legal assistance is guaranteed, with adequate conditions for private consultations;
- Medical and nursing assistance is provided on a regular basis through a protocol with MdM, with immediate referral to hospital where necessary;
- Detainees have access to leisure facilities and an outdoor space;
- Mobile phone use is permitted in common areas, subject to restrictions;
- Money must be stored in a safe upon entry; and
- Detainees have the right to submit complaints to the PSP National Director, the General Inspectorate of Internal Administration, or the Ombudsperson.
In April 2025, PSP published an information leaflet on the rules applicable to the CIT UHSA, available in 17 languages.[7] The leaflet sets out, inter alia, that:
- Detainees are entitled to receive free medical, psychological, legal and social support;
- Detainees have the right to information on the removal process and their procedural guarantees in a language they understand;
- Detainees have access to a telephone and internet is guaranteed;
- Minors are entitled to specialised psychosocial and educational support and appropriate facilities;
- Detainees have the right to visits from lawyers, consular representatives, human rights organisations, and family members or friends;
- Access to outdoor space is permitted between 08:00 and 22:00;
- Detainees are accommodated separately by gender, with families accommodated together where possible;
- Money is stored in a safe upon entry;
- Non-compliance with rules may result in placement in a security room for up to five days depending on the severity of the conduct; and
- Detainees may at any time submit suggestions or complaints, with the support of organisations present in the facility.
In April 2020, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed concern over the detention conditions of migrants in Portugal, recommending that conditions and treatment in relevant facilities comply with international standards.[8]
EECIT Lisbon
The detention facility at Lisbon airport is the most relevant detention space of applicants for international protection (mostly within the context of border procedures).
According to the information provided by PSP, in 2025, the EECIT Lisbon had an overall capacity of 18 places – out of which, 10 for men and 4 for women. It also has a family room (with capacity for 2 persons) and a multipurpose room for people with reduced mobility (with capacity for 2 persons).
According to the report covering 2024,[9] the National Preventive Mechanism raised concerns regarding the absence of video surveillance in all interview rooms located at the border, and noted that PSP was unable to confirm whether CCTV footage was being recorded or retained. No specific approved emergency action plan was in place. Panic buttons can be deactivated remotely on staff phones without the officer being required to attend the room where the alarm was triggered.
Each wing has a small courtyard and a common area that includes a space for meals.[10] The toilet and bathroom facilities are shared and were deemed as having good conditions by the Ombudsperson, yet according to the report covering 2023 the showers have no privacy.[11]
The reception area of the facility includes an office for PSP and three offices for visits, including by lawyers and NGOs such as CPR. CPR’s assessment is that the offices do not ensure adequate privacy, notably due to inadequate sound isolation.
According to CPR’s observation, both PSP officers and staff of a private security company are present in the facility. Apparently, staff of the security company perform logistical tasks.
The preparation of meals is ensured by a catering company. Information on the current cleaning arrangements is not available.
According to the information available to CPR, detainees are allowed to keep their luggage and to keep and use their mobile phones. Free wi-fi internet is available, although coverage is poor. Mobile phones may only be charged in the reception area. While phones are charging, they remain under the care of security staff.
Transit area – Lisbon airport
It is publicly known that in the last quarter of 2023 and beginning of 2024, asylum applicants and other migrants refused entry into national territory at Lisbon airport were frequently detained in the transit zone of the airport in appalling conditions due to the lack of capacity of the corresponding detention facility.[12] This practice worsened again in 2025, with asylum applicants remaining detained in the transit area of Lisbon airport for a few days until they were placed in administrative detention centres.
According to the information provided by PSP, there is no limit to the number of persons that may be detained in such spaces. PSP claimed that the average duration of detention in the transit zone for migrants later transferred to EECIT Lisbon was 2 days. It is not clear whether this figure includes asylum applicants. CPR’s observation points towards longer periods in 2025, including vulnerable people.
According to PSP, healthcare at the transit zone is ensured by the airport medical teams, meals are ensured through contracts with private entities, and hygiene and sanitary items are made available to detainees.
According to one media piece from December 2023, whose one of the main sources is one of the unions of PSP officials:[13]
- There were almost permanently 15 to 20 persons at the transit area awaiting a place in the detention facility;
- There were people detained in the transit area for 7 days, sleeping in benches;
- Access to hygiene facilities for showering and personal hygiene depended upon escort by PSP officials;
- Meals were provided by PSP officials and initial medical assistance by MdM, and airport medical services.
Between 2023 and 2024, CPR also received consistent reports according to which significant numbers of asylum applicants remained detained in the international area of the airport for prolonged periods of time in conditions that were incompatible with human dignity. For instance, people sleeping in airport seats/floor/camp beds and not having access to bedclothes, personal items, and personal hygiene facilities on a systematic basis. CPR has also received reports that the food provided (mostly sandwiches) was not adequate and did not fulfil nutritional needs.
In 2025, CPR identified vulnerable people detained at the transit zone, including children, pregnant women, and elderly and disabled people. These cases were systematically reported by CPR to AIMA and PSP, calling for their immediate release.
This situation has also been publicly condemned by the National Preventive Mechanism.[14] According to its report covering 2024, persistent overnight stays in the transit zone constitute undignified treatment contrary to Article 3 ECHR case law, as this area lacks adequate beds, showers, a dining area, a medical room, and outdoor access.[15]
EECIT Porto and EECIT Faro
According to the information available to CPR, throughout 2024 and in some cases into 2025, asylum applicants detained at the border at Lisbon airport were often transferred to the EECIT Porto or Faro airports due to the lack of capacity of EECIT Lisbon.
According to the information provided by PSP, in 2025, the EECIT Porto had an overall capacity of 18 places, all intended for men. The EECIT Faro had an overall capacity of 13 places, out of which 10 for men and 3 for women.
According to the report covering 2024,[16] the National Preventive Mechanism identified concerns common to EECIT Porto and Faro, including absence of video surveillance in all interview rooms located at the border, panic buttons being deactivated remotely on staff phones without the officer being required to attend the room where the alarm was triggered, and deficiencies in the provision of information on rights and procedural status. At EECIT Faro in particular, information was being communicated by security staff using online translation tools without a qualified interpreter, with detainees reporting not fully understanding the information provided.
CIT-UHSA
The National Preventive Mechanism deems the conditions at CIT-UHSA as overall adequate, underlining the existence of outdoor areas and the regular presence of staff and volunteers from external entities.[17] However, it has reiterated concern regarding issues such as the size of the beds, and the lack of adequate regulation of the use and conditions of placement in the cell-room (a measure that may be adopted when the security of the facility is compromised).[18]
According to JRS, CIT-UHSA has 32 rooms, five of which are cell-rooms. A family wing was added, providing four additional places, primarily intended for families. According to PSP, due to operational needs, it has mainly been used to accommodate women.
According to the available information, the facility has separate wings for men and women, as well as a family wing. There is a big outdoor space whose use depends on being accompanied by staff of the facility/volunteers. Daily cleaning is ensured, and the Ombudsperson deemed the food provided varied and adequate. Access to personal belongings that to do not jeopardise physical integrity is allowed.[19]
Volunteers and workers from organisations such as JRS, IOM and MdM are regularly present in the facility.[20] Access to personal mobile phones is allowed in certain periods of the day,[21] and detainees may also have access to a mobile phone provided by the JRS staff present in the facility.[22]
According to the information provided by IOM in 2023, a room for meetings between detainees and their lawyers was added to the facility in 2022.
According to the information provided by IOM, surveys conducted with detained migrants regarding the detention conditions revealed a mostly positive evaluation of PSP officers following the transition occurred by the end of October 2023.
Activities
Each wing of the detention facility at EECIT Lisbon has a courtyard with tables and chairs. The courtyards in the border detention facilities have been criticised by the Ombudsperson in the past for being too small, surrounded by walls and lacking natural light.[23] As far as CPR is aware, the situation remains unchanged.
In its report covering 2023, the National Preventive Mechanism criticised once again the absence of a cultural mediator in the facility and noted that PSP stated that a protocol was being developed with IOM in order to develop cultural mediation activities.[24] The Mechanism notes, however, that the development of social assessments and the preparation of citizens’ exit from the EECIT have been overlooked.[25] According to the Mechanism, there is no social preparation for the release of detained third-country nationals.
CIT-UHSA has big outdoor space whose use depends on detainees being accompanied by staff of the facility/volunteers. Access to personal mobile phones is allowed in certain periods of the day. Access to personal belongings that to do not jeopardise physical integrity is allowed.[26]
In its report covering 2024, the National Preventive Mechanism reported that PSP considers the recreational and cultural activities at UHSA to be insufficient, with volunteer-led provision limited to weekends.[27] According to the Mechanism, there is no social preparation for the release of detained third-country nationals.
While the law provides for access to education of children asylum applicants under the same conditions as nationals,[28] and the rules governing CIT provide for the access of detained children to education depending on the duration of their detention,[29] according to the information available to CPR children in detention do not have access to education or pedagogical activities in practice either at the detention facility or by accessing normal schools.
Health care and special needs in detention
The responsibility for providing health care to asylum applicants at the border lies with the Ministry in charge of Migration that can rely on public entities and/or private non-profit organisations in the framework of a MoU to ensure the provision of such services.[30]
The Asylum Act provides for the right of asylum applicants and their relatives to adequate health care at the border (i.e., in detention),[31] and for the right of vulnerable asylum applicants in detention to regular health care that meets their particular needs.[32] The Asylum Act does not, however, specify this particular standard,[33] and/or whether it differs from the general standard of health care provision in the asylum procedure.[34]
According to the available information, nursing and medical care, as well as referrals to the national healthcare system at EECITs and CIT-UHSA are ensured by MdM.
According to the information provided by PSP, the provision of health care to people detained at the transit area of Lisbon airport is performed by the airport’s medical teams.
In its report published in 2024, the National Preventive Mechanism deemed that in 2023 most detainees at EECIT-Lisbon had access to an initial medical evaluation but mental healthcare services provided were insufficient.[35]
According to previous research,[36] and the information available to CPR, there are no specific mechanisms or standard operational procedures for the early identification of vulnerable asylum applicants and their special reception needs at the border or in pre-removal detention. This has been confirmed by the National Preventive Mechanism in its report published in 2023.[37]
When detained (see Detention of Vulnerable Applicants), vulnerable applicants are granted access to services and medical treatment under the same standards that are applicable to all detainees.
[1] Ministerial Decision n. 5863/2015 of 2 June 2015 regulates in detail detention conditions by police forces, but is only applicable to the initial 48-hour detention period.
[2] Regulamento Regime geral sobre o acolhimento de estrangeiros e apátridas em Centros de Instalação Temporária (CIT) e Espaços Equiparados a Centros de Instalação Temporária (EECIT), 31 July 2020, available here.
[3] Articles 1(1) and 3.
[4] For the rules previously applicable under SEF, see previous editions of this report.
[5] The leafleft was produced within the framework of the ‘Rights without Borders’ project, co-funded by PSP and AMIF and implemented by IOM, January 2025, available here.
[6] Médicos do Mundo, in Portuguese. Details on the project available here.
[7] The leafleft was produced within the framework of the ‘Rights without Borders’ project, co-funded by PSP and AMIF and implemented by IOM, April 2025, available here.
[8] Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations on the fifth periodic report of Portugal, CCPR/C/PRT/CO/5. 28 April 2020, par 34(e) and 35(e), available here.
[9] Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2024, July 2025, available here, 56-57.
[10] Ombudsperson, ‘Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção, Relatório à Assembleia da República’, 24 June 2021, available here, 89.
[11] Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2022, July 2023, available here, 48.
[12] See, for instance: Diário de Notícias, Requerentes de asilo “dormem em bancos” no aeroporto. Sindicato da PSP denuncia situação “caótica”, 3 December 2023, available here. Público, Marroquino passa 19 noites a dormir no chão do aeroporto à espera do pedido de asilo, 16 December 2023, available at [paywall]: here ; SIC Notícias, “Pomos roupa no chão e dormimos em cima”: 13 pessoas estão a viver no aeroporto de Lisboa, 20 December 2023, disponível em: here; Jornal de Notícias, Número de requerentes de asilo a viver no aeroporto “vai crescer”, 20 December 2023, available here.
[13] Diário de Notícias, Requerentes de asilo “dormem em bancos” no aeroporto. Sindicato da PSP denuncia situação “caótica”, 3 December 2023, available here.
[14] See, for instance: SIC Notícias, Provedoria da Justiça denuncia situação “indigna” no centro de detenção do aeroporto de Lisboa, 24 January 2024, available here.
[15] Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2024, July 2025, available here, 51-52.
[16] Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2024, July 2025, available here, 52 and 60.
[17] Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2022, July 2023, available here, 96.
[18] Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2024, July 2025, available here, 56-57 and 59.
[19] Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção, Relatório à Assembleia da República 2020, June 2021, available here, 102 et seq.
[20] Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2021, July 2022, available here, 74; information provided by IOM in March 2024.
[21] According to the Ombudsperson, in 2021, the use of personal mobile phones was allowed between 10:00 and 21:30. Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2021, July 2022, available here, 75-76.
[22] Ombudsperson, ‘Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção, Relatório à Assembleia da República 2020’, June 2021, available here, 103 et seq.
[23] Ombudsperson, Tratamento dos cidadãos estrangeiros em situação irregular ou requerentes de asilo nos centros de instalação temporária ou espaços equiparados, September 2017, available in Portuguese here, 33.
[24] Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2023, July 2024, available here, 50-51.
[25] Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2024, July 2025, available here, 61.
[26] Ombudsperson, ‘Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção, Relatório à Assembleia da República’, 24 June 2021, available here, 101 et seq.
[27] Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2024, July 2025, available here, 61.
[28] Article 53 Asylum Act.
[29] Article 146-A(7) Immigration Act.
[30] Article 61(1) Asylum Act.
[31] Article 56(2) Asylum Act.
[32 Article 35(b)(8) Asylum Act.
[33] However, Article 146-A(3) Immigration Act states that a foreigner detained at a CIT or an equivalent detaining facility (i.e., at the border) is entitled to emergency and basic health care only and that special attention should be provided to vulnerable individuals, particularly to children, unaccompanied children, handicapped persons, elderly persons, pregnant women, families with children and survivors of torture, rape and other forms of serious psychological, physical or sexual violence.
[34] In accordance with Article 52(1) Asylum Act and Ministerial Orders (“Portaria”) No 30/2001 and No 1042/2008, asylum applicants and their relatives are entitled to medical assistance and access to medicines for basic needs, and for emergency and primary care in the National Health Service (SNS) under the same conditions as nationals. Primary care is to be understood as including at least access to general practitioners, access to specialists, inpatient care, complementary diagnostic tests and therapies, and nursing assistance. Furthermore, Article 4(1)(n) Decree-Law No 113/2011 (recast) provides for free access to the SNS by asylum applicants.
[35] Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2023, July 2024, available here, 49-50.
[36] See Italian Council for Refugees et al., Time for Needs: Listening, Healing, Protecting, October 2017, available in Italian here.
[37 Ombudsperson, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2022, July 2023, available here, 93.