Amadora || As immigrants throughout Europe fear the prospect of knee-jerk reactions to horrors playing out in the Middle East, a council in Portugal is taking part in a pioneering project that aims to nip prejudice in the bud.
“Don’t feed the rumour” is an EC-backed initiative due to be taken on by a number of European towns later this month.
It involves the creation of “anti-rumour brigades” designed to disseminate positive information about immigrants and de-mystify popular misconceptions.
Typical rumours without foundation include affirmations that “immigrants don’t want or like to work”; that “immigrants steal Portuguese jobs”; that “immigrants live on State handouts” and “are always connected to the criminal underworld”, or that their children “cause trouble at schools”, writes Público.
Thus Amadora council – home to 41 nationalities which represent a total of 10% of the council’s 175,000 inhabitants – is embracing ‘Don’t feed the Rumour’ and mobilising “anti-rumour agents”, to start working on the ground from September 10.
Explaining the council’s motivation, mayoress Carla Tavares said that she hoped the project would also serve to soothe fears over behaviour that is often simply a matter of culture. For instance: “Talking very loudly when socialising is a characteristic of the Cape Verdian community. It is a cultural issue,” she told Público. “But it can worry others.”
The anti-rumour agents will be dispatched to schools and community associations, in a bid to explain the behavioural tendencies and habits of different cultures, so that locals can feel less bewildered, she said.
Her council was also quick to explain that immigrants were vital to the “liquid contributions of the national system”.
