Portugal ready to host 550 refugees
The country can receive 550 Afghan refugees when the network response of partners to the needs of reception is still being organised.
Portugal’s High Commission for Migration (ACM) on Friday said that the country can receive 550 Afghan refugees when the network response of partners to the needs of reception is still being organised.
The ACM pointed out that it has received 31 responses from host organisations so far, demonstrating their willingness to support in areas as distinct as reception/housing, job creation, or provision of essential goods.
The High Commissioner added expressions of interest from other civil society organisations in supporting this humanitarian emergency experienced in Afghanistan. By August 20, a public way for citizens interested in collaborating in some way in the process recorded 4,429 responses.
“This high number of responses has been processed, and the first people have already been contacted, taking into account their availability of support and current needs. Soon the citizens who have made their second home available as a place to stay will be contacted,” the ACM said.
The minister of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, indicated on Tuesday that Portugal received that same day 20 Afghan citizens who joined the 66 refugees already in the national territory.
She added that the country had, at the time, the capacity to receive more than 400 refugees.
According to the ACM, the Afghan refugees who arrived in Portugal in recent days are in good health, calm and still settling in the spaces they are hosted.
They are currently housed in reception centres in the Lisbon area, it said.
