Queues and Endless Chaos at Airports: Why Was the First Year of the New Border Force Painful?

The process of closing down the formerly known as SEF and installing new systems has been on the agenda in Portugal for a long time. Exactly one year after SEF became history, on August 21, 2025, the National Aliens and Borders Unit (UNEF), established as a "mini-SEF" within the police force PSP, entered the field. However, when we look at the past year, we see that things did not go as smoothly as planned.

Passengers waiting in line for hours for passport control at Lisbon, Porto and Faro airports, blocked crossing points and disrupted flights were the clearest summary of this year.

The European System Has Changed, The Burden Has Been on the Backs of the Police

One of the biggest reasons for the disruption was the new border control system that was being phased in across Europe. This digital infrastructure, which reached full capacity in April, even had to be temporarily stopped from time to time due to excessive accumulation.

As underlined by the police union SNOP; While the organization was trying to adapt to this new system, it also had to manage the huge passenger traffic brought by the tourist season.

Did 400 Additional Police Provide a Solution or Did It Cause Other Wounds?

In the last two months, crossing areas at airports have been expanded and approximately 400 additional police officers have been deployed at the borders. Although on paper this move seems to have extinguished the fire in airports to some extent, the other side of the coin is quite thought-provoking:

Streets and Police Stations Remained Empty: The withdrawal of hundreds of officers to the borders to relieve the pressure at the airports put a strain on city police stations and public order teams, which were already experiencing personnel shortages.

Lack of Flexible Management: If shift and overtime systems could be designed more flexibly, it would be possible to direct hundreds of officers to city security instead of keeping them waiting at the airport during the quiet hours of the day.

Urban Immigration Units Have Still Not Been Established: According to the law, regional units that would carry out immigration control and tracking within the city had to be put into operation. However, since the organization does not have enough staff, these units have not yet been able to enter the field.

Tight Control at the Border, Emptiness Inside

The concentration of all attention and resources only on the airport gates due to political and media pressure has weakened the balance of immigration control and security within the country. Of course, it is critical to inspect people entering the airport, but the fact that the processes after entering the country and internal security are not monitored remains the weakest link of the system.

Today, UNEF is not only dealing with passport queues; It also deals with the management of deportation procedures, repatriation centers and temporary accommodation areas at airports. However, one thing is clear: pulling personnel from internal security and trying to plug the holes in the airport does not offer a sustainable solution in the long term.

Source: LUSA

Image Source: Sul Informação