"During 2020, IOM Portugal assisted 219 resettled refugees, 72 unaccompanied children and young foreigners and 18 asylum seekers resettled in Portugal", the note sent to Lusa reads.

Most of them came from Sudan in Africa and from Syria and Iraq in the Middle East. The refugees who arrived in Portugal were in Turkey (189) and Egypt (30), 109 of them under 18 and 110 adults.

The intergovernmental organisation organised the trips, provided assistance at airports of departure, transit and arrival and provided "medical and operational accompaniment during the flight, whenever necessary", the communiqué adds.

In that process, IOM Portugal also organised sessions before the trip to Portugal, in order to "prepare the refugees for the reception and reception conditions in Portugal", carried out medical examinations, under a protocol with the Directorate General of Health (DGS) and supported "initial integration with the host communities", through information sessions, we read.

The authority also clarified that "all persons resettled in Portugal" were "subjected to diagnostic tests for Covid-19" and "only those who tested negative were considered fit to travel".