RIFA states that the 1,849 applications for asylum, the highest figure since 2015, include those related to the relocation mechanism within the scope of the national commitments made to the European Union, namely the reception of migrants rescued from the Mediterranean and the reception of refugees in the context of an EU resettlement process.

According to the report, presented today at a ceremony commemorating the 44th anniversary of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), of the 1,849 asylum applications, 1,428 were made in the country and 406 at the border posts.

The RIFA indicates that the orders on national territory include 100 ad hoc relocation of humanitarian boats.

The same document points out that 73.1% of asylum applications were submitted by men under the age of 40 (87%), with the African continent being the most representative (76.7%), followed by the American (8.7%) and Asian (7.4%) continents.

According to the report, 308 Angolans applied for asylum to Portugal in 2019, followed by 173 citizens from Gambia, 160 from Guinea-Bissau, 128 from Guinea, 96 from Venezuela and 85 from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Last year, unaccompanied minors who asked for international protection from Portugal also increased by 27.8%.

The RIFA indicates that in 2019, 46 cases of international protection for unaccompanied minors were registered, 32 of which were carried out in the national territory and 14 at a border post.

According to SEF, the majority of minors who applied for international protection were from Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Gambia, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo.