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People march in downtown Lisbon to welcome refugees

Xinhua, September 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Hundreds marched on Saturday in downtown Lisbon to welcome refugees, with similar events taking place in other European capitals.

The Welcome Refugees event in Lisbon began at Marques de Pombal square in central Lisbon, with people holding up banners with the word "Welcome" and phrases like "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite," the theme from the French revolution.

"People are facing a war and we have to open a door for them," said Isabel Maria, 60, retired. "We never know if tomorrow we could be in the same situation. All countries should help these people."

A dozen of people from the nationalist Partido Nacional Renovador (PNR) party were protesting against refugees shouting "Portugal" and were surrounded by a number of police officers.

Other concentrations to welcome refugees took place in several other cities around the country including Coimbra, Faro, Felgueiras and Porto.

The Portuguese government has said it is ready to welcome refugees, with Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva recently saying it was important not only to accept refugees but also to "create conditions so that these people can stay in their homes."

The country's Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister, Miguel Poiares Maduro, said on Thursday that Portugal has the capacity to take in more refugees than the 1,500 set in its EU quota.

"All I can say is that Portugal, surely, is prepared to receive a larger number of refugees, hoping that same solidarity and availability also exists in other European states," he said last week.

The municipality of Lisbon, which recently revealed a fund of 2 million euros (2.27 million U.S. dollars) to help put an end to the crisis, also wants to accept a larger number of refugees.

The European Commission has drawn up an emergency plan to relocate 160,000 refugees around the continent, with migrants allocated according to a state's economic wealth and population.

At least 4 million people have escaped Syria since the conflict started, and around 2,500 migrants died or disappeared this year trying to reach Europe. Enditem