More than 58,000 temporary protections granted to people from Ukraine

Portugal has granted more than 58,000 temporary protections to people fleeing the war in Ukraine in the year since Russia invaded, with about one quarter of those having been granted to minors, the Immigrations and Borders Service (SEF) said on Monday.

The latest update released by the SEF shows that since the start of the war, which began one year ago this Friday, Portugal has granted 58,043 temporary protections to nationals of Ukraine and foreign nationals residing there. Of the total 33,900 were to women and 24,143 to men.

The highest number of temporary protections granted during the year went to people based in the municipalities of Lisbon (12,385), Cascais (3,665), Porto (2,976), Sintra (1,955) and Albufeira (1,443).

Requests for temporary protection have been authorised for 14,111 minors, representing around 25% of the total.

The SEF also said that it had communicated to the office of public prosecutions the situation of 737 Ukrainian minors who arrived in Portugal without their parents or legal representatives, these being cases in which there is deemed be no “current or imminent danger.”

In these situations – in most cases the child arrived in Portugal with a relative – the case is communicated to prosecutors for the appointment of a legal representative and possible opening of protection proceedings for the minor.

The SEF also communicated to the Commission for the Protection of Children and Young People the situation of 15 minors who arrived in Portugal unaccompanied, or with someone other than parents or a proven legal representative, with these cases representing “current or imminent danger.”

At the beginning of February and in an assessment made to Lusa, the SEF said that under the temporary protection regime it had issued 47,377 residence permit certificates – documents that contain user numbers for the National Health Service (SNS), social security and tax identification, and which are necessary for refugees to take up a job or access support.

Requests for temporary protection in Portugal may be made via the online platform https://sefforukraine.sef.pt created by the SEF and available in Ukrainian, English and Portuguese.

However, in the case of minors, it is mandatory to go to a SEF counter in order to confirm identity and parentage.

The temporary protections automatically granted in Portugal to refugees from Ukraine are valid for one year and can twice be extended for a period of six months.

The military offensive launched on 24 February 2022 by Russia in Ukraine has so far caused the flight of more than 14 million people – 6.5 million of them internally displaced and more than 8 million to other European countries – according to the latest data from the United Nations, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).

The UN has said that since the beginning of the war 7,155 civilians are confirmed killed and 11,662 injured, while stressing that these figures are far below the real ones.