Thirty immigrants from Bangladesh, Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Sudan arrived in Portugal from Malta on Sunday afternoon.
The immigrants had been rescued by The Lifeline humanitarian ship in June and have arrived at the Bobadela Reception Centre, stated the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Malta's government had said it would only allow the immigrants to land if fellow European Union countries took their quota.
The immigrants had been rescued by The Lifeline humanitarian ship in June and have arrived at the Bobadela Reception Centre, stated the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The 30 immigrants will be looked after by the Portuguese Council for Refugees.
The group is made up of 26 men, three women and a four-month-old child accompanied by its mother.
The ministry said the arrival of this group is part of Portugal's commitment to solidarity and European cooperation on migration.
"In view of the emergency situation of the immigrants rescued by Lifeline, the Portuguese Government immediately informed the Government of Malta that it would be willing jointly to participate in the reception process," read the ministry’s missive.
The Government said a team of inspectors from the Aliens and Borders Service had traveled to Malta to streamline the immigration process and to help prepare a smooth reception in Portugal for the migrants.
The ship, operated by the German non-governmental organisation ‘Lifeline Mission,’ sailed around the Mediterranean for six days, with 230 people who had been rescued off the Libyan coast, finally dropping them off at the Maltese port of Valletta on June 27th.
The ministry said that Portugal’s government has expressed its willingness to receive 50 people from the group of 450 rescued in early July by Italian vessels, in a joint initiative with Spain and France.
The 30 immigrants will be looked after by the Portuguese Council for Refugees.
The group is made up of 26 men, three women and a four-month-old child accompanied by its mother.
The ministry said the arrival of this group is part of Portugal's commitment to solidarity and European cooperation on migration.
"In view of the emergency situation of the immigrants rescued by Lifeline, the Portuguese Government immediately informed the Government of Malta that it would be willing jointly to participate in the reception process," read the ministry’s missive.
The Government said a team of inspectors from the Aliens and Borders Service had traveled to Malta to streamline the immigration process and to help prepare a smooth reception in Portugal for the migrants.
The ship, operated by the German non-governmental organisation ‘Lifeline Mission,’ sailed around the Mediterranean for six days, with 230 migrants who had been rescued off the Libyan coast, finally dropping them off at the Maltese port of Valletta on June 27th.
The ministry said that Portugal’s government has expressed its willingness to receive 50 people from the group of 450 immigrants rescued in early July by Italian vessels, in a joint initiative with Spain and France.
