Olesya Ihnat, responsible for the Association of Ukrainians in the Algarve region, has spoken out about the operation to help and welcome refugees from her country, calling for an official refugee reception centre in the Algarve.
Recognising that there has been a huge effort on the part of the municipalities in the Algarve region, the representative is grateful but says, "Until now, no city council has contacted us to help us with this project, there are reception centers in the North, Lisbon and Alentejo, but in the Algarve there is not yet".
Olesya confirmed to online newspaper Algarve Primeiro that she has received requests from Ukrainians who want to come to the region, but admits that she cannot fulfill these requests, because there is no reception centre: "what happens at the moment is that when we receive refugees, we volunteers go looking for temporary housing for individuals, and then many Portuguese do not facilitate this process either,. We are talking about mothers with small children and we know what Portuguese law is like, if there is no solution for a new rehousing it is difficult to remove this mother with the children from a house legally". At the moment, she said she has three families in her charge, but she can accept no more, due to the responsibility that this entails.
Currently, the "SOS" requests are forwarded to the Algarve volunteers from reception centres in Lisbon, "if they want to come to the Algarve, I cannot accept them, there are municipal councils that are doing this work, but for the people who stay in the respective councils, the ideal was a regional reception center, because there each person decides where they want to go, we cannot order the person, but help them".
Asked about the lack of a regional reception center for Ukrainian refugees, António Pina - President of the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve - AMAL, said that "at the moment this situation does not exist, because it has not yet been necessary."
The official explained that “to date” all people have been coming to the homes of family members. “We are considering having pavilions for people to live in,but this is a last resort. For us to reach the level of assistance necessary, it will be a decision articulated by the government and with the support of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Presidency, within the framework of the European Union”.
António Pina stressed that the government understood that this matter should be coordinated by the High Commissioner for Migration, "on the day a regional response is triggered, we will be here to do it", he concluded.
