Author
The Portuguese authorities are bound by the duty to protect asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection from refoulement.[1] National case law has reaffirmed the protection against refoulement both on national territory and at the border, regardless of the migrant’s status,[2] and in cases of either direct or indirect exposure to refoulement.[3] CPR is unaware of national case law that addresses the extraterritorial dimension of non–refoulement.
There are no published reports by NGOs about cases of actual refoulement at the border of persons wanting to apply for asylum.
CPR does not conduct border monitoring. Furthermore, it only has access to applicants after the registration of their asylum claim. At times, CPR receives third party contacts reporting the presence of individuals in need of international protection at the border. With rare exceptions, and even where CPR does not immediately intervene, the registration of the corresponding applications in these cases is normally communicated by SEF to CPR in the following days (see Registration of the asylum application). At the time of writing, there is no experience in this regard with AIMA, GNR, and PSP.
Recent research on access to the asylum system and the principle of non-refoulement at the border.[4]
CPR has no indication of cases of push backs at the border. Nevertheless, according to the information available at the time of writing, there is no clear framework for the systematic assessment of the risk of refoulement of persons refused entry at border points. Furthermore, it is unclear whether staff responsible for border control receives specific training concerning non-refoulement obligations.[5] These risk factors are aggravated by the absence of border monitoring by independent organisations.[6]
With regard to access to free legal assistance, in November 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Bar Association signed a protocol to ensure the provision of legal counselling and assistance to foreigners whose entry into national territory was refused (Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Funchal and Ponta Delgada airports).[7] According to available information this protocol was made within the framework of Article 40(2) of the Immigration Act and is not intended to cover asylum procedures.[8]
While the implementation of this protocol is a positive development, concerns have been raised informally by several stakeholders because access to legal support can only occur following the refusal of entry into the national territory and not before second stage border controls conducted prior to such refusal.
It must be also noted that according to the Ombudsperson, 66,6% of persons refused entry at Lisbon airport and 94% of those refused entry at Porto airport in 2022 waived their right to legal assistance.[9] While the Ombudsperson praised the fact that such a waiver is done in writing, it was highlighted that it is important that the text is either written in a language that the applicant understands or that it is translated by an interpreter, which was not always the case.[10]
The UN Committee Against Torture noted in 2019 that Portugal should ‘[e]sure that, in practice, no one may be expelled, returned or extradited to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would run a personal and foreseeable risk of being subjected to torture and ill-treatment’ and that procedural safeguards and effective remedies regarding the prohibition of refoulement are available.[11]
CPR is aware of one case in the course of 2022 where an extradition was carried out while the asylum application was pending.
AIMA reported not having data regarding sea arrivals in 2023.
Legal access to the territory
Since 2018, Portugal has systematically participated in ad hoc relocation mechanisms following rescue operations in the Mediterranean and disembarkation in Malta and Italy.[12]
IOM Portugal supports the implementation of relocation to Portugal through the use of medical screenings, the provision of pre-departure orientation information, and logistical support for the transfer, in collaboration with relevant IOM offices.
According to the information provided by AIMA, 40 persons were relocated to Portugal in 2023 from Italy, Malta, and Cyprus. IOM reported having provided assistance to all these persons. According to AIMA, the majority of those relocated were Afghan nationals.
In 2023, IOM has also supported the relocation of 56 unaccompanied children to Portugal from Greece under a bilateral relocation agreement. [13] According to the information provided by IOM, relocation under this scheme was led by the relevant governments and coordinated by the European Commission. IOM organised pre-departure orientation activities, medical screenings, in-flight escorts for the children, and provided assistance upon arrival at Lisbon airport. AIMA confirmed that a total of 56 unaccompanied children were relocated to Portugal in 2023.
Resettlement is explicitly provided for in the Asylum Act since 1998. The law determines that requests for resettlement of refugees under UNHCR’s mandate are to be presented to the Minister of Home Affairs / Minister of Parliamentary Affairs (as the Minister in charge of Migration).[14] Within 60 days, SEF/AIMA must conduct all the actions needed for the analysis and decision of each case.[15] The law provides for the issuance of an opinion on each request by an NGO named for that purpose within the framework of a specific MoU.[16] Following referral of the case by SEF/AIMA, the Ministry of Home Affairs/Minister of Parliamentary Affairs must issue a decision within 15 days.[17]
Portugal has a resettlement programme in place since 2006. Currently, resettlement is mostly funded through European funds.
Within the context of an MoU with the Portuguese authorities, IOM oversees pre-departure orientation activities, the performance of medical assessments prior to departure, the provision of assistance in transit and arrival support, and it assists the coordination with diplomatic representations for the issuance of visas and travel documents. With regard to pre-departure orientation, IOM reported that, prior to departure, all families participated in a video call with the host institution and were handled a factsheet with integration-related information. As per the information provided by IOM, the duration of pre-departure activities varies, typically ranging between 4 weeks and 6 months.
According to publicly available information for 2023 data, Portugal pledge to resettle 300 persons and to receive 100 persons under the humanitarian admission scheme.[18]
According to the information provided by AIMA and UNHCR to the AIDA report, a total of 277 refugees were resettled to Portugal in 2023 (90 from Egypt, 145 from Turkey and 42 from Jordan).[19] The group included nationals from Syria, South Sudan, Sudan, Eritrea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen.
As per the information provided by IOM, refugees resettled in Portugal in 2023 were hosted in a total of 8 districts, with the majority being hosted in the Lisbon region and in the north of the country.
Upon arrival in Portugal, resettled refugees are received by a host entity – typically a civil society organisation, such as CPR – and begin an 18-month integration programme. According to the information provided by AIMA, in 2023, reception of resettled refugeed was ensured by civil society organisations, SCML, and municipalities.
With regard to documentation, resettled refugees are issued a “Declaration of International Protection in Portugal” (Declaração Comprovativa de Protecção Internacional em Portugal) upon arrival which is valid until the corresponding residence permit is issued. For more, please see: Content of International Protection.
According to CPR’s experience, while the resettlement programme is an important protection avenue that must be reinforced, there are implementation challenges hindering its success in practice such as:
- Lack of a permanent and organised coordination structure, supporting the implementation of the programme as well as the organisations involved;
- Lack of adaptability of the programme to the specific needs of the resettled refugees;
- Insufficient involvement of the hosting entities in the pre-departure activities/procedures and management of expectations;
- Delays in the arrivals;
- Insufficient distribution of the arrivals through an adequate span of time allowing for better response capacity of hosting entities (for instance, out of the resettled refugees hosted by CPR 80% arrived in only two dates).
In 2024-2025, Portugal has pledged to resettle 600 persons and to receive 400 persons on humanitarian grounds within the context of the 2024-2025 EU resettlement and humanitarian admission scheme.[20]
In 2021, Portugal was involved in the evacuation of Afghan citizens. In August 2021, the Government announced the country’s availability to host Afghans who had collaborated with the Portuguese military forces deployed to Afghanistan, and persons who have collaborated with EU, NATO and UN missions in the country.[21] Specific references to vulnerable cases (e.g., women and girls) were also made by Government officials.
While official information on the selection criteria and procedures has not been shared by the authorities, according to the information available to CPR, those evacuated mostly fell in one of the following categories: persons who worked with the Portuguese Military Forces in Afghanistan, in the EU mission or with links to the UN; journalists; persons identified by the Directorate General for Consular Affairs and Communities (Direcção-Geral dos Assuntos Consulares e das Comunidades), or relatives of national citizens. A group of the Afghanistan Women’s Soccer Team,[22] and another of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music,[23] and respective family members have also been hosted in the country.[24]
A specific scheme was adopted to ensure the reception of those evacuated to Portugal (see Differential treatment in reception).[25] The asylum applications followed the regular procedure. According to the information available to CPR, admission to the regular procedure and issuance of the corresponding temporary residence permits were overall quick, and, according to the information available to CPR the vast majority of first instance decisions issued to these applicants granted them refugee status.
According to information previously provided by SEF, a total of 768 applications for international protection were made in 2021 within this context.
In 2022 and 2023, the national authorities continued to allow for humanitarian admissions of Afghans for the purposes of family reunion.
Such requests must be submitted to the High Commission for Migration (Alto Comissariado para as Migrações, ACM) or to AIMA, and fulfil the following requirements: (1) existence of valid travel documents; (2) logistical ability to travel from a third country, as the persons concerned must be outside Afghanistan to request the relevant visa;[26] (3) financial ability to travel – as costs must be fully covered by the persons concerned; (4) prior identification of a hosting entity in Portugal to ensure the provision of support.[27] ACM/AIMA assesses the request, and accepted applications are referred to the relevant Portuguese Embassy for the purposes of visa issuance.
According to the information provided by AIMA, a total of 472 persons evacuated from Afghanistan arrived in Portugal in 2023. It is unclear how many of them applied for international protection.
Since 2021 CPR has been implementing a pilot project on community sponsorship in Portugal funded by AMIF.[28]
Following a significant number of outreach and capacity-building activities targeting potential sponsor groups, in 2023 two families were hosted under the project.
The first family was preselected by governmental authorities and allocated to CPR’s availability to host resettled refugees. CPR then matched the family with a sponsor group, taking into account the characteristics of the refugees as well as the welcome plan designed by the sponsors and potential inclusion outcomes. The second family was received under named-sponsorship and in connection to the emergency evacuation of Afghan nationals.
CPR is currently working with 5 established sponsor groups and supporting emerging groups, aiming to host over 40 persons under this programme. Arrivals are currently pending approval from the national authorities.
For information on access to the territory through family reunification with a beneficiary of international protection, see Content of International Protection: Family Reunification.
[1] Articles 2(aa), 47 and 65 Asylum Act; Articles 31(6), 40(4) and 143 Immigration Act.
[2] Nevertheless, the recent replies of Portugal to the list of issues of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) seem to indicate an understanding of the principle of non-refoulement as being almost exclusively linked to refugee status determination: ““[t]he principle of “non-refoulement” is established in Law 27/2008 and guarantees the applicant’s right to not be returned to a country (of origin, residence or otherwise), where his/her life or freedom would be threatened if specific conditions are met and referred in the Geneva Convention and in the Portuguese Asylum Law – provided that this risk occurs “(… ) because of their race, religion , nationality , membership of a particular social group, or opinions policies ( … )” and should be a clear and intrinsic relation of cause and effect between the return of the applicant and the specific threat that can be targeted. The observance of the principle of non-refoulement is intrinsically linked to the determination of refugee status, thus when it is established that an asylum application is unfounded, for not meeting any of the criteria defined by the Geneva Convention and New York Protocol in recognition of refugee status, the principle mentioned above is fully observed to that extent.” (available at: https://bit.ly/3cnDTjy).
[3] See e.g., TAC Lisbon, Decisions 1480/12.7BELSB and no. 2141/10.7BELSB (unpublished). More recently, TCA South noted that Portugal is also bound to protect applicants against indirect refoulement within the context of Dublin procedures (e.g. TCA South, Decision 775/19.3BELSB, 10 September 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/3mzaaYx).
[4] The latest available research seems to be CPR, Access to Protection: A Human Right, country report, Portugal, 2014, available at: https://bit.ly/3sWjYNx. At the time, while no instances of push-backs at the border were identified, shortcomings such as extraterritorial refoulement within the framework of extraterritorial border controls performed by air carrier personnel and SEF in Guinea Bissau were observed.
[5] In the List of Issues published in June 2023, the Committee Against Torture (CAT) requested information regarding, inter alia, training for immigration and border control officers regarding the treatment of detainees, the absolute prohibition of torture, the principle of non-refoulement and identification of potential victims of torture, gender-based violence and trafficking in human beings among asylum seekers. See Committee Against Torture (CAT), List of issues prior to submission of the eight periodic report of Portugal, 9 June 2023, par.10, available at: https://tinyurl.com/5ynxhpx9.
[6] These concerns had been previously observed by CPR in the above-mentioned research.
[7] Ministry of Home Affairs, Estrangeiros impedidos de entrar em Portugal vão ter direito a advogado, 4 November 2020, available in Portuguese at: https://bit.ly/3oCd8L3.
[8] Publicly available information regarding the implementation of this Protocol remains limited.
[9] Ombudsman, Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção – Relatório à Assembleia da República 2022, July 2023, 91-92, 95, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yumbbkwf.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Committee Against Torture, Concluding Observations on the seventh periodic report of Portugal, CAR/C/PRT/CO/7, 18 December 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/2G1F07z, par.38(a) and (b). In its List of Issues published in June 2023, the Committee Against Torture (CAT) requested information regarding the safeguards in place to ensure access of all individuals under the jurisdiction of Portugal to access legal counselling and relevant procedural safeguards, as well as on the identification of vulnerable persons and regarding the consideration of their special needs within relevant procedures. See Committee Against Torture (CAT), List of issues prior to submission of the eight periodic report of Portugal, 9 June 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/5ynxhpx9, para.8.
[12] According to the information provided by IOM, 8 persons were transferred from Malta and 26 from Italy in the course of 2022.
[13] Reuters, ‘Portugal to take in 500 unaccompanied migrant children from Greek camps’, 12 May 2020, available at: https://reut.rs/3lCCBoC.
[14] Article 35(1) Asylum Act.
[15] Article 35(2) Asylum Act.
[16] Article 35(3) Asylum Act.
[17] Article 35(4) Asylum Act.
[18] European Commission, Pledges submitted by the Member States for 2023, available at: http://tinyurl.com/4f3vm864.
[19] A figure slightly higher than that indicated on UNHCR’s Resettlement Data Finder portal as of April 2024 (241). See: https://tinyurl.com/54heejjd.
[20] European Commission, Pledges submitted by the Member States for 2024-2025, December 2023, available at: http://tinyurl.com/4689sxtf.
[21] See, for instance: Expresso, Afeganistão: Portugal participa na mobilização internacional de apoio a refugiados, 15 August 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/36EvmbY.
[22] Diário de Notícias, Portugal recebeu grupo de 80 afegãos, a maioria jogadoras de futebol, 20 September 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3LbtYfS.
[23] Euronews, Jovens músicos afegãos encontram esperança em Portugal, 14 December 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3xMZKvQ.
[24] See also Observatório das Migrações (OM), Requerentes e Beneficiários de Proteção Internacional – Relatório Estatístico do Asilo 2022, June 2022, available in Portuguese at: https://bit.ly/3XySygz, 78-79.
[25] The corresponding financial framework was adopted by Decision of the Council of Ministers no.166/2021, of 10 December, available at: https://bit.ly/3MBvuvv.
[26] According to the information available at the time of writing, Portuguese Embassies in Pakistan and Iran are only able to issue visas if the persons concerned left Afghanistan legally.
[27] According to the information available at the time of writing, no public funding stream will be available for such provision of support by civil society organisations.
[28] Vitality and Engagement – Developing Communities – https://tinyurl.com/594ss492, and A Comunidade – https://www.acomunidade.org/.