The temporary protection granted to Ukrainian citizens will be extended for another six months, as the war situation in Ukraine continues, the Deputy Minister, Ana Catarina Mendes, assured today in Lisbon.
“It will be extended for another six months, as we have done in the past and will continue to do. The situation is still one of war and so these people need to continue to have temporary protection,” said the minister, at the end of a visit to the premises of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA).
Ana Catarina Mendes thus responded to the petition launched last week by associations of Ukrainians in Portugal to ask the government to publish the renewal of temporary protection certificates, already promised by the authorities, by the end of March.
By the beginning of January, Portugal had granted 59,532 Temporary Protection (PT) certificates to refugees from Ukraine, according to AIMA data sent to Lusa.
According to AIMA, 1,566 of these refugees have already asked the authorities to cancel their permit.
In September, when this measure was last extended, 57,390 temporary protections had been granted.
The temporary protection granted by Portugal to refugees from Ukraine is given automatically and the first time it was granted it lasted one year.
The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory began on February 24, 2022 and has caused, according to the UN, the worst refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
