Portugal has received less than half of its allocation of refugees from the processing camps in Italy and Greece.
The European Commission reports that Portugal has taken in 1,400 people: 1,101 from camps in Greece and 299 from camps in Italy but slow progress is being made.
Part of the €377 million allocated to the continuing refugee crisis by Brussels for 2018 will head Portugal’s way as the government's commitment to take in 2,951 people under the EU resettlement programme is less than half fulfilled.
The European Commission says that it is crucial that member states accelerate their relocation procedures and “commit to reinstate all eligible applicants.”
Portugal has pretty much an open door policy on refugees with the prime minister saying he will take in 10,000 or even 20,000 refugees, after they are processed in the camps, but the slow systems in the Greek and Italian facilities, rather than in the receiving countries, are to blame for Portugal only being able to welcome 1,400 refugees, 40% of whom have left already. (here)
Portugal has taken people from camps outside Europe with 63 coming from Egypt and 12 from Turkey - plus one lonely soul from Morocco but even the man running the programme, Ministerial Assistant in the PM's cabinet, Eduardo Cabrita, acknowledges that Portugal "is not a preferred destination" for refugees, citing ‘difficulties of integration’ as the number one reason for refugees leaving the country.
On 4 July, Brussels invited the member states to submit new resettlement commitments for 2018, which will attract financial support from Brussels at the rate of €10,000 per head but with Portugal's current resettlement numbers well below target, this excercise is academic.
Comments
Peter Booker is correct in his comments.
However, it looks like the UK prefers to set a different course out of the European Union. It is either a brave step or an act of madness, to leave a club that provides a huge and wealthy trading areana and a safety net for its citizens human rights and employment rights.
But this is the majority decision of the people and one would hope they have made this decision based on fact and not in a melancholy hunger for the past.
Because the past is just where it is ...in the past.
The future is in moving forward.
It's good that Portugal is welcoming these desparate people.
However one odd consequence is that young Brazilians claiming darker origins get affirmative action to help them into higher education. So France 24 follows a mixed race youth with lighter skin needing to prove his African ancestry. To the 'born lucky' whitish skinned officials in the University.
This comment is tosh, and cannot go unchallenged. The immigrants from the other countries in Europe are generally workers; among whom there are some in the agricultural sector, doing jobs that Britons do not want; and some in the health and veterinary services, without whom the service would collapse; and London has a sizeable French community, benefitting from the more open economic conditions in Britain.
Britain has always accepted immigrants, and we Britons are a mongrel nationality. What is more, immigrants have usually brought economic benefit to the wider community. To ban them now is both uncivilised and illogical.
But then again, the whole Brexit argument is based in emotion and not in logic.
To get the baksheesh Portugal, and others, have signed whatever is on the table .. then realised ooops. We didn't really need this stress - so do not implement the laws they have agreed to. It is quite amusing now watching Austrian and Slovenia trying to shift hundreds of their migrants back to another EU state Croatia. Who in turn will try and evacuate them back - via non EU states - to Greece. Which the Dublin Convention tells us was their original port of call into the EU.
But it does bring home to us British why is the UK buried in so many EU citizens from the southern and eastern EU who share absolutely none of our culture or history? Who, if uneducated, add nothing of value and, like Portugal, just bring their complexes and inferiorities.