Prime Minister Costa said it was the duty of Europe “to protect all those experiencing persecution” or fleeing war with the prime minister then adding that his government “had expressed a willingness not only to the EU but also bilaterally, to those countries that are experiencing the greatest pressure” to take in refugees “on the basis of a bilateral re-deployment.”
Whilst not “excessively pressured by the migration crisis”, Costa said the country was setting an example as “a Europe that closes its borders and blocks access to refugees” and that does not “show solidarity in dividing up the efforts of hosting them” was not an objective desired by anybody.
The prime minister added that this “pro-active role” represented the tradition Portugal was now returning to as “a country that helps in finding solutions in Europe” before explaining that, following a review, there was the capacity to take in an additional 6,000 refugees to take the total number to around 10,000.
A government source told Lusa News Agency that the government had sent out a letter to the governments of Greece, Italy, Austria and Sweden stipulating the same terms as those put forward to German chancellor Angela Merkel at the beginning of this month.
The letter says there were the facilities to take in around 2,000 university students, another 800 in vocational training and between 2,500 and 3,000 refugees qualified to work in the agriculture and forestry sectors.