Most of the people who fled the war in Ukraine to Portugal intend to return, but recognize the impossibility of returning home in the near future and are looking for longer-term solutions, the president of the Association of Ukrainians in Portugal reports.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, on February 24, Portugal has received more than 48 thousand people who fled from this country. Five months later, with no end in sight to the Russian invasion, the intention of the majority is still to return home.
“People do not believe that they will not return to Ukraine,” the president of the Association of Ukrainians in Portugal (AUP) began with a statement to the agency.
However, added Pavel Sadokha, “they have already realized that they should not stay in Portugal forever, they will have to stay longer, and they began to look for solutions to last this time.”
And with more or less ease, these solutions have been found as a result of the joint work of the state, local authorities and civil society, not least because most of the cases that reach the country are “not as serious as one might imagine” .
According to Pavel Sadohi, most of the people who sought asylum in Portugal already had families living in the country and “came knowing that they would find a solution here.” Others started from a favorable economic situation, some even kept their jobs in the remote work mode, so it was not difficult to gain a foothold in the country.
The third group is the most vulnerable: the Ukrainians, who arrive in Portugal with few resources and don’t know anyone. These are mainly those who seek housing support from the outset, such as the Porta de Entrada rent support program, which, according to Público, is not reaching everyone today.
However, the AUP president says that this group represents a minority of Ukrainian refugees in Portugal, not least because “usually these people stay in countries closer to Ukraine.”
Assessing the process of integration of Ukrainian families, the president of the AUP says that it is going well, and even in recent situations, people who were left homeless – second homes temporarily provided by the Portuguese who wanted to vacate them during the summer period – alternatives were quickly found.
“There were no more than 50 cases of people left homeless from our support work, but we always found solutions,” he explained.
However, since they prefer to prepare for the fact that they will not be able to return home any time soon, Pavlo Sadokha says that “Ukrainians try not to depend on anyone.”
Job offers are not a problem, but according to the president of the AUP, the offers often do not meet the qualifications of Ukrainians and do not meet their expectations. “But they already know that they will have to put up with it, and they are not going to build their career here either,” he adds.
On the education side, Pavel Sadokha says there have been no problems, and despite expressing concern about the situation of children in August, when many schools and kindergartens are closed, he says that there are already several initiatives to take up free time. .
“In general, in terms of support, people most ask us for help in finding Portuguese courses,” he said, given that there are still gaps in information at this level that he would like to make more accessible.
According to the Service for Foreigners and Borders (SEF), Portugal has so far granted temporary protection to 48,657 people who fled the war in Ukraine, 29,394 women and 19,263 men, of which about 27% are minors.
The municipalities with the most temporary protections granted continue to be Lisbon (10,280), Cascais (2,923), Porto (2,296), Sintra (1,663) and Albufeira (1,234).
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
