In a joint statement, the Ministries of National Defence, Foreign Affairs, the Presidency and the Internal Administration said that the arrival of this group was the result of a joint operation that involved the Portuguese and US authorities.

The group was temporarily housed in shelters in Greater Lisbon, and will later be transferred to independent housing across the country.

At the end of August, the Minister of Internal Affairs said that Portugal has the financial capacity to receive “hundreds” of Afghan refugees, with priority given to women, children, activists and journalists.

“In Portugal, we have the financial capacity, under the Asylum and Migration Fund managed by the Ministry of Internal Administration, to receive, with the current resources, people in the hundreds”, declared Eduardo Cabrita.

Speaking to the Portuguese press in Brussels, at the end of a meeting of the interior ministers of the European Union (EU) on Afghanistan, the official pointed out that it was "a matter of resource management", noting that "Portugal's priorities are defined" and they are based on receiving people from the most vulnerable groups, that is, “women, children, human rights activists and journalists”.