In an interview with the Lusa News agency, the Secretary of State for Inclusion and Migration revealed that foster care “is one of the answers that is being prepared” to integrate the 500 unaccompanied minors from Greece that Portugal has committed to receive by the end of 2021.

This year, Portugal has already received 71 young people, mostly boys, aged between 15 and 17 years old, from countries such as Afghanistan, Syria or Egypt, which are dispersed throughout Lisbon, Braga, Nazaré, Covilhã and Maia.

“The point is that normally [family care] is aimed at younger people and the majority of young people in Greece are in these older age groups,”said Cláudia Pereira.

The Secretary of State stressed that "potential candidates for foster families have been successively interviewed", a measure of protection of the rights of children and young people, which is temporary and transitory and which involves integrating the minor into a family.

Cláudia Pereira admitted that foster care is a “more appropriate measure for young people”, and that in the case of these young refugees, taking into account their age, the objective is their autonomy.

Regarding the group of 71 young people that Portugal has already received, Cláudia Pereira made a point of underlining “the enthusiasm” of the teams that are receiving them and the fact that some of them are already autonomous, such as the case of a young Afghan who is already living alone, speaks Portuguese and is taking a professional course.