Catarina Marcelino, who was speaking at a conference organised by Speak, a migrant integration project created in Leiria, said that out of the 24 who arrived in Portugal on Thursday, 14 are from Greece and 10 from Italy.
The secretary said the integration involved several areas, with particular attention being paid to “health, education, housing and jobs “.
“We are trying to provide as wide an answer as possible, so we have signed agreements to find institutions that can offer various things such as accommodation, clothes, food, work and the ability to assist the families “.
Ms Marcelino said the language could be a barrier and so the “High Commission for Migrations is going to organise a Portuguese language course”.
“They are not coming from poor backgrounds. There are highly qualified people who are fleeing from a conflict. The main aim is that they are seen as part of society”, she explained.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the 24 refugees are from Eritrea, Sudan, Iraq, Syria and Tunisia and had been waiting for resettlement in centres in Greece and Italy.
These first 24 refugees are part of about 4,500 that Portugal is going to take in over the next two years under the European Union (EU) Refugee Relocation Programme.