August 09, 2006

Portugal welcomes five refugees from Ethiopia, Eritrea

Portugal welcomed five refugees from Ethiopia and Eritrea and would house them at the Bobadela Reception Center in Lisbon, Center Director Isabel Sales told media on Tuesday.
The three Eritreans and two Ethiopians were admitted to Portugal at the request of the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), whose current president, Antonio Guterres, is Portuguese.
The Africans, who are currently in Caia, on the Spain-Portugal border, some 200 km from Lisbon, are expected to remain in Portugal for six months. The Portuguese refugee center also houses citizens from Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire as UNHCR requested.
The five were part of a group of 51 rescued from a Spanish fishing boat in Maltese waters on July 14. The UNHCR has been studying their cases and offered them homes in Portugal, Italy, Malta, Spain and Holland.
Source: Xinhua

No comments: