Portugal Loves South Asia But Does It Love South Asians?

To build a more inclusive society, the true story of Portugal's encounter with Asia, including South Asia, must move beyond museums into schools, media, political conversations and everyday life.

(Brussels) – I’ve grown to love Portugal. Not just as a tourist. Over the years, the country has become part of my life through regular visits and deep, long-lasting friendships.

And of course who doesn’t think Lisbon is one of Europe’s coolest, most vibrant cities?

Portugal and Asia, including South Asia, have been intertwined for centuries. From Goa to Lisbon, from spices to surnames, from architecture to family histories, the connections are profound.

And they are celebrated. António Costa, president of the European Council, for instance, is of Mozambican and Goan descent, and takes pride in his overseas Indian citizen card.

Everyone loves wandering through Lisbon’s streets, hopping on and off the iconic yellow trams, listening to fado late into the evening.

I revel in the pleasure of visiting the city's magnificent museums, whose collections showcase Asia's artistic heritage - although, as with many great European museums, not every object arrived there through entirely equal or uncomplicated encounters.

And there’s the added joy of encountering the many reminders of Islam’s almost 500 year presence in Portugal when some of the country was part of Al-Andalus, the Muslim-ruled territories of the Iberian Peninsula.

For someone who was born in Pakistan and has spent most of her personal and professional life navigating different cultures, Portugal’s story has always seemed refreshingly global but also fascinatingly familiar.

So imagine my surprise and dismay at learning that Portugal has become another European country with hardening attitudes on migration. And that it is South Asians, many of whom arrived fairly recently to fill labour shortages, who have become the prime target of Portugal’s migrant-hating far right.

The current wave of anti-immigrant sentiment in the country carries several ironies. Like the fact that similarly to Spain, Italy and Greece, Portugal has a long history of emigration.

Or that in Lisbon and other cities, the Portuguese seem to be quite taken with South Asian food, fashion and music. Yoga studios are crowded. Eating Goan food in Lisbon is pure delight.

And although the memo clearly hasn’t arrived in many parts of continental Europe – perhaps because of linguistic barriers - across North America and Britain, South Asian writers, actors and musicians command global audiences, and have made being “desi” cool, trendy and fashionable.

Portugal, like many part of Europe, it seems, has fallen in love with South Asia. But there’s little love for South Asians.

Arguments about why this is happening can go on and on. The messy reality of living in diverse societies is rarely straightforward and newcomers are often blamed for long-standing problems they did not create.

Across Europe, unscrupulous and xenophobic politicians have found fertile ground by linking migration to almost every national anxiety - economic stagnation, housing shortages, overstretched public services, rising insecurity and a perceived loss of cultural cohesion.

Mainstream and progressive politicians, meanwhile, have often struggled to offer a compelling alternative narrative. Too many have either echoed anti-immigrant rhetoric or failed to invest in the housing, education, healthcare and public infrastructure needed to support growing and changing societies.

There are, of course, deeper currents at work: the lingering shadow of colonialism, racial prejudice, the collective stigmatisation of certain communities and a fear - sometimes spoken, often unspoken - that identities are being diluted or displaced.

But beneath all these explanations lies a more fundamental question: who gets to belong?

In countries that have become far more diverse than they were a generation ago, the real struggle is often not about migration itself. It is about whether nations can expand their understanding of who belongs within the national story.

To build a more inclusive society, the true story of Portugal’s encounter with Asia and Islam will have to move beyond museums, food and music into schools, universities, media, political conversations and everyday life.

Part of the country’s magic has always been its openness, its cultural diversity and an uncanny ability to absorb influences from different cultures and make them part of its own story.

I hope that warmth survives. The people arriving today, with their contributions to the national labour force and economy, their ambitions, stories and their energy, are not interrupting Portugal’s story. They are enriching and extending it.

South Asians were part of Portugal’s past and have a stake in Portugal’s present and future. Portugal has an interest and a responsibility to keep them safe.

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