PAR – the support platform for refugees – has upped its quota of places in institutions as the number of people coming to Portugal increases exponentially.
As Lusa explains today, PAR president Rui Marques explains that “recently, Portugal doubled its capacity for taking in refugees” (click here) and the platform is simply showing itself to follow suit.
In fact, he said, Portugal is one of the countries that is “leading this process”.
“In absolute terms we’re the second country that has taken in more refugees in the relocation programme and, in per capita terms, we’re the first”, he told Lusa.
But placements are still agonisingly slow, he stressed, and pressure on authorities managing asylum requests has to continue.
Right now, it is not even sure that Portugal’s willingness to take 10,500 refugees instead of the 4,500 agreed under the European quota system will get the green light, he added.
This far, the country has taken 149 refugees from various countries, but it has the “capacity in place for a lot more”, he said.
Added to the 600 places initially offered by the platform in institutions around the country, there are now another 104. The new protocol was signed at a ceremony in Lisbon Town Hall earlier today.
