Young migrants who landed on Monte Gordo beach transferred to Portuguese Refugee Council

The eight young Moroccan migrants who landed in the Algarve on Wednesday this week will be hosted by the Portuguese Refugee Council (CPR) in Lisbon. The young men applied for international protection status during the early hours of today. This means that they cannot be detained for illegal immigration, the Foreigners and Border Service (SEF) have confirmed.

In a press release, the SEF reports that “under the international protection framework applied to other cases of rescued foreigners in the Mediterranean”, the group of 16- to 26-year-olds stayed overnight in Vila Real de Santo António, and will now be transferred to Lisbon. According to the SEF, this transfer should happen later this Thursday.

“Like others who arrived in Portugal, they will be assured and registered by their request, and will be provided with documentation showing a period of investigation, so that during that time they are here they can be guaranteed medical assistance, education, housing, and livelihoods,” explains the SEF statement.

The youth application will be reviewed by the SEF Asylum and Refugee Office within 90 days. Until this request is granted, they will remain in the CPR or, if it deems it appropriate, provide them with the means of subsistence off the premises.

As of Thursday morning, the CPR had not yet received notice of the submission, but that does not mean that there is a delay, said the coordinator of the respective legal office, Mónica Farinha.

According to SEF National Director Cristina Gatões, at a press conference on Wednesday evening, the situation regarding the 16-year-old is a difficult one. She framed that he would “have a special assessment according to age.”

Like any minor refugee, if not accompanied (i.e., by a family member or guardian), he will be welcomed in to the Shelter for Refugee Children, explained Mónica Farinha. In this case, the SEF must contact a Family and Juvenile Court, “which will determine the host measure and his legal representation”, she explained.

“The destiny of the young people was Europe”, said Gatões. In 2007, a boat with 23 illegal migrants was intercepted in Olhão; the occupants said they were from Morocco.

At the time they were repatriated. Asked about the differences in this case, the SEF Director replied: “The context is completely different and, therefore, for the sake of consistency, we need to make an assessment of this case in the light of the principles we have been upholding. We have already saved 185 people under this program alone. ”

Authorities in Portugal are now on guard against a possible new migrant route from North Africa to Europe after the eight Moroccan men reached the southern Portuguese coast.