Under the Voluntary Program for the Resettlement of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 23 citizens benefiting from refugee status from Turkey and Egypt arrived in Portugal yesterday.

Seven families from Iraq, Sudan and South Sudan were welcomed in Braga.

So far, 530 people have arrived in our country under the Voluntary Resettlement Programme of UNHCR and the European Commission. Of these, 245 arrived from Egypt and 285 from Turkey.

The reception and integration of refugee people have been a priority of the Government, in a continuous effort that involves central State and local authorities, as well as public and private entities, and which has been recognized by the United Nations, the International Organization for Migration, the Union European Union and the Council of Europe.

This priority has been translated into Portugal's active participation in the European effort to welcome refugees, by supporting the European Commission's proposals for the construction of a common European asylum policy, based on the principles of responsibility and solidarity, in the respect for the dignity of the human person and in combating trafficking in human beings.