Portugal has shown its willingness to take in some of the migrants arriving on the Italian island of Lampedusa under the European Union’s solidarity mechanism to ease the “great pressure” on Italy, the Portuguese government announced on Tuesday.
“Portugal has made a commitment in the past under the [EU] voluntary solidarity mechanism. We have always expressed our solidarity and willingness to take in migrants when these situations occur,” Portugal’s Secretary of State for European affairs, Tiago Antunes, said on Tuesday.
Speaking to the Portuguese press in Brussels at the end of a General Affairs Council, which took place days after the European announcement of a new plan to deal with the migration emergency in the EU, he said, “Faced with the great pressure that is occurring or when there is a shipwreck, our attitude is always one of solidarity and willingness to welcome, within the framework of this voluntary solidarity mechanism.”
While the secretary of state did not give any figure, he reiterated, “Naturally, we’ve expressed our willingness to take in some people”.
“We need to put an end to the business of human traffickers” and “create regular and safe channels for migration”, said Antunes as he pointed to the “very big challenges” on the migration issue.
(Ana Matos Neves | Lusa.pt; edited by Maria de Deus Rodrigues)
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