The temporary protection granted to Ukrainian citizens will be extended for another six months, as the war situation in Ukraine continues, Deputy Minister Ana Catarina Mendes assured today in Lisbon.
“It will be extended for another six months, as it should be, as we have done in the past and as we will continue to do. The situation is still war and therefore these people need to continue to have temporary protection”, stated the minister, at the end of a trip to the premises of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA).
Ana Catarina Mendes thus responded to the petition launched last week by Ukrainian associations in Portugal, asking the Government to publish, by the end of March, the renewal of temporary protection certificates, already promised by the authorities.
By the beginning of January, Portugal had granted 59.532 Temporary Protection (PT) titles to refugees from Ukraine, according to AIMA data sent to Lusa.
According to AIMA, 1.566 of these refugees have already requested cancellation of their title from the authorities.
In September, when this measure was last extended, 57.390 temporary protections had been granted.
The temporary protections granted by Portugal to refugees from Ukraine are given automatically and the first time they were granted lasted for one year.
The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory began on February 24, 2022 and caused, according to the UN, the worst refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
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