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The main forms of accommodation used during admissibility, including Dublin, and accelerated procedures on the national territory are reception centres, collective accommodation and/or shared rooms. As regards the regular procedure, private accommodation is usually used (see Types of Accommodation).
There is currently no regular monitoring of the reception system in place.
AIMA did not clarify the type of reception facilities provided by each organisation with which it signed MoUs and contract services in addition to CPR. Thus, it is not clear which type of reception facilities Adolescere, Convento Balsamão, JRS, and Together International have available, and if any are specialised and specifically assigned to asylum applicants. AIMA states that asylum applicants are mostly accommodated in reception centres, collective accommodation and/or shared rooms, managed by these entities.
According to AIMA, upon reception applicants are informed by the host entities of their rights and duties, features and rules of the reception system, and available services. In these facilities, AIMA states that applicants are provided with access to the National Health System (including urgent and essential treatments), social support to guarantee basic needs, access to education for children, financial support in proven cases of need, and psychological support, if necessary. Also, according to AIMA, the support provided is equivalent regardless of the type of facility used as it is guaranteed by AIMA through the MoUs and contract services signed with the different host entities. This includes access to health, education, social support, and security.
AIMA has not provided information on how these rights, which are provided for by law, are guaranteed to applicants in practice, nor has it clarified how the need for financial support is assessed.
ISS is among the competent authorities for licensing, monitoring and providing technical support to the operation of reception centres for asylum applicants.[1] ISS has laid down specific rules for temporary reception centres for children at risk (such as CACR).[2] Furthermore, the law provides for specific standards regarding housing in kind for asylum applicants,[3] and children at risk (such as unaccompanied children).[4] The specific material reception standards relevant to CAR and CACR are foreseen in the underlying bilateral MOUs (see Types of Accommodation) and in the internal regulations of each facility.
CAR 1 and CAR 2 are composed of shared rooms with dedicated bathrooms/toilets and are equipped to accommodate asylum applicants with mobility constraints, e.g., it includes a lift and adapted bathrooms/toilets. Single men and women are accommodated in separate areas. The residents are expected to cook their own meals in a communal kitchen and have access to common fridges and cupboards. The centres also have a laundry service, and a playground. CAR 1 also has a day-care/kindergarten for resident and local community children, as well as a library connected to the municipal library system and a theatre/event space that can be rented out.
CPR provides psychosocial and legal assistance, Portuguese language training, socio-cultural activities, as well as integration-related support (see Access to the Labour Market). Logistical support staff is present at CAR 24 hours a day and the overall cleaning of the centre is carried out by a private company, though the residents are expected to contribute to the cleaning of their room and that of the common kitchen. The team of the centre often liaises with other organisations to provide specific support to particularly vulnerable residents.
CPR adheres to the mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) model. The current reception strategy entails that CAR 1 is a screening centre for new admissions during which social and health needs are identified and information on the host country is provided. CAR 1 is mostly dedicated to the reception of sole applicants, single-parent households and other vulnerable applicants with specific needs. CVG, the private house managed by CPR as a complement to CAR 1, is dedicated to the reception of semi-autonomous families. CAR 2 is mostly dedicated to the reception of households and sole applicants without specific needs.
The average accommodation period with the assistance of CPR in 2024 was of 138 days (roughly 4 and a half months).
CACR is composed of shared rooms with dedicated bathrooms/toilets and is equipped to accommodate asylum applicants with mobility constraints. Two resident cooks are responsible for the provision of meals in line with the nutritional needs of children, although children can be allowed to cook their own meals under supervision. The centre also has a laundry service, a playground and a small library, and provides psychosocial and legal assistance, Portuguese language training and socio-cultural activities. Children accommodated at CACR are systematically enrolled in local schools or in vocational training programmes. In 2024, the staff of CACR included a social worker, two social educators, an education assistant and support staff (present 24 hours a day to ensure the overall functioning of the centre), who were assisted by legal officers and a language trainer.
CACR offers unaccompanied children appropriate housing and reception conditions regardless of the stage of the asylum procedure. Given the specific needs and contexts involved, the average stay in 2024 stood at 399 days.
The official capacity of CACR stands at 12 places. In the past, the existing gap in specialised reception capacity repeatedly resulted in overcrowding that has been partially averted by: changing arrangements in rooms to expand capacity while preserving adequate accommodation standards; resorting to separate accommodation of unaccompanied children above the age of 16 at the CAR 1 and CAR 2, supervised by the Family and Juvenile Court (both as a measure of last resort in the case of capacity shortages, and in a process of growing autonomy for young applicants at more advanced stages of the integration process); and, depending on the individual circumstances, promoting the placement of children above the age of 16 in supervised private housing by decision of the Family and Juvenile Court in line with the protective measures enshrined in the Youths at Risk Protection Act.[5]
Absconding and the associated risk of human trafficking remain relevant concerns. A total of 7% of unaccompanied children accommodated by CPR absconded in 2024 (see Special Reception Needs), but it was an atypical year in terms of numbers of new referrals.
Notwithstanding, according to OTSH, in 2024, there were no formally identified and/or confirmed victims of trafficking in human beings among applicants for and beneficiaries of international protection by the competent authorities.
A study focusing on the situation of asylum-seeking unaccompanied children and ageing out in Portugal published in 2021 revealed, inter alia, that the children and young people involved reported challenges related to the cultural and religious diversity of those living in reception centres, as well as difficulties in adjusting to different alimentary practices. Some of those questioned also highlighted difficulties in transitioning to autonomous living due to financial hurdles and, when dispersed to locations outside the Lisbon area, social isolation.[6]
[1] Decree-Law No 64/2007.
[2] These rules are contained among others in technical guidelines that provide for quality standards on issues such as capacity, duration of stay, composition and technical skills of staff, hygiene and security standards, location and connectivity, access to the building, construction materials, composition and size of the building, internal regulation, personal integration plans, activities planning, reporting and evaluation etc. An earlier version from 1996 is available here. According to the information available here, the ISS has also adopted quality standards for other temporary reception centres (such as CAR) contained in technical guidelines dated 29 November 1996 (unpublished).
[3] Article 59 Asylum Act: protection of family life, including the unity of children and parents/legal representatives; right to contact relatives and representatives of UNHCR and CPR; adoption of adequate measures by the management of the facility to prevent violence, and notably sexual and gender-based violence.
[4] Articles 52-54 Children and Youth at Risk Protection Act.
[5] Act 147/99.
[6] Sandra Roberto, Carla Moleiro, ed. Observatório das Migrações, De menor a maior: acolhimento e autonomia de vida em menores não acompanhados, April 2021, pp.53 et seq, available here.