The first 24 refugees of the so-called 4500 due to settle in Portugal over the next two years are due to arrive on Thursday. The Eritreans, Sudanese, Iraqis, Syrians and Tunisians will be arriving from Rome and Athens, and be housed in Lisbon, Cacém, Torres Vedras, Marinha Grande, Penafiel and Vinhais, the interior ministry explained, while the president of the Portuguese Council for Refugees stressed all have been “rigorously scrutinised”.
Thus as Público adds, “there is nothing to fear from the arrival of these migrants”.
Nonetheless, Diário de Notícias, stresses there is still one caveat in the whole process. “Employment”, says the paper. It is the one real fear of refugees who have already settled here and love the country, adds DN, as the State’s financial help only lasts a finite period and jobs are still hard to come by.
Talking to DN earlier in the week, Fouad Nadeem – a Syrian who has arrived here with his family from Aleppo as part of last year’s quota of migrants – said he had to find a job within 10 months, or there would be no income for his family.
Low salaries paid here do not worry him, wrote DN, as Nadeem is not concerned about saving money.
“I just want to live”, he told the paper. “Simply, like any other person”.
