ICMCEUROPE WelcometoEurope.pdf (5.89 MB)

232
Dossier selection
Dossier selection
(Immigration &
Borders Service - SEF)
Information
leaflet (CPR
& SEF)
Arrival to reception
centre. 3-hour orientation
class during the first week
Placement in municipalities &
further language tuition
UNHCR
submissions
Final decision
Travel (SEF)
6-month integration programme
at the reception centre
Approximately 2 ½ months
6 months
Chapter VI - European Resettlement Programmes
Integration in Practice
Reception
Prior to 2013, CPR was the lead agency
responsible for the reception and initial
integration of resettled refugees. For
2013, the Jesuit Refugee Service will
also become involved in this area of
work. As the specifics of the new programme
have yet to be clarified, the
remainder of the chapter focuses on the
resettlement programme up to 2013.
In previous programmes, refugees were
welcomed at the airport by a CPR representative,
together with an appropriate
interpreter, and transferred to the CPR
Reception Centre in Bobadela, in the
municipality of Loures just outside of
Lisbon. Refugees stayed in the reception
centre for a period of approximately six
months. The centre has capacity for 45
persons and is used to accommodate
both resettled refugees and asylum
seekers.
Recent increases in the number of
asylum seekers, in addition to difficulties
in finding move-on accommodation
for resettled refugees after the initial
6-month period, has stretched the
capacity of the centre. In response,
the Institute of Social Security (ISS) has
begun a process of 'decentralisation'
of reception, or distributing refugees
from the reception centre across the
territory (see 'New Developments'
below).
Placement policies
After six months of centralised
reception, resettled refugees moved
to housing in municipalities. Although
welfare benefits received by resettled
refugees are higher than average, they
remain fairly limited in relation to
housing costs and - despite the assistance
of CPR and local social security
services - finding affordable housing in
the Lisbon area is challenging. Refugees
subsequently tend to overstay in the
reception centre, leading to bottlenecks
in the reception system.
Resettled refugees have mostly stayed
in and around Lisbon after the reception