Pedro Calado explained that this followed a month-long survey of the needs, accommodation, food supplies, labour market and professional training requirements within the scope of the European Working Group on Migrations.
“If we arrived in the short term with the means for 3,000 individuals, we believed that we do have the capacity to welcome them,” said Calado in reference to the 4,574 refugees the country is due to host.
“This is only an initial survey because the National Association of Municipalities has already said that there are more to come but that they did not register in time,” Calado continued.
The high commissioner also said that, contrary to some media reports, the majority of this accommodation does not stem from private homes but rather from institutional responses ranging from municipal infrastructures through to housing in hotels and other such accommodation facilities.
The objectives include decentralising the presence of refugees away from the major urban centres as well as catering for not only families but also for those arriving alone and for unaccompanied children, with the bulk of the refugees arriving expected to be either Syrian, Eritrean or Iraqi nationals.