Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 13th April 2022
Algarve welcomes refugees from Ukraine
48 days after the start of the war, all the Algarve municipalities received Ukrainian refugees, according to data from the Foreigners and Borders Service. In total, the SEF has already granted, in the region, 4279 requests for protection to refugees who arrived in the Algarve.
Of these 4279, 2942 were made by women, which is equivalent to 69%.
There were only 1337 male individuals making this request for protection, the majority being children and young people up to 17 years of age.
This is due to the fact that, in Ukraine, martial law prevents men aged between 18 and 60 from leaving the country in order to fight the Russian army.
Analysing the numbers, Albufeira is, by far, the municipality where there were, in the region, the largest number of requests: a total of 925.
Along with Lisbon, Cascais, Sintra and Porto, Albufeira is even in the top five municipalities with the most requests.
In the Algarve, after Albufeira, Portimão is the municipality that welcomed the most Ukrainian refugees: 801. Loulé follows with 743.
GNR arrests man for several robberies and other crimes in Vilamoura
The Loulé GNR Criminal Investigation Nucleus (NIC) detained a 34-year-old man in Faro yesterday, Monday, April 11, for robberies and thefts in Vilamoura.
The investigation had been going on for about five months and allowed the Guard’s military to carry out police investigations that made it possible to identify the suspect and associate him with the practice of various illicit activities in Vilamoura, namely four robberies using public stretches, two robberies in residence, a domestic violation, driving without a license and extortion.
Following the investigation, the suspect was located and an arrest warrant was executed.
The detainee will be present today, April 12, at the Judicial Court of Faro, for the application of coercive measures.
The Municipality of Faro is distributing 400 Easter baskets to needy families in all parishes in the municipality.
The municipality says in a statement that the tradition that takes place at the Christmas season has been extended since last year at the time of Easter in order to mitigate the impacts of the crisis caused by the pandemic.
With this gesture, the Chamber intends to support the most needy citizens “so that they have a more dignified Easter court with their respective families”.
The baskets are given to citizens referred by the social services of the municipality, including users of the Support Office for the Elderly, in addition to institutions that work in partnership with the city council.
As had happened last Christmas, the baskets distributed include a set of food products selected by a nutritionist, in conjunction with the municipality’s technicians, “so that they are tasty, but also more balanced and healthy”, he adds.
In the basket is also a small book called “Healthy Easter”, which contains nutrition tips and balanced recipes for this festive season.
Finnish man with international arrest warrant caught in Albufeira
Man was wanted for tax crimes committed in Finland.
On 9 April, Saturday, the Albufeira GNR complied with an international arrest warrant for the extradition of a 46-year-old Finnish man.
The Guard military located and approached the suspect following a police action, where the individual was approached for a road violation situation.
When drawing up the administrative offense and identifying the suspect, the military found that he had an international arrest warrant pending for extradition, under the Schengen agreement, for tax crimes committed in Finland.
The individual was arrested and was present yesterday, April 11, at the Évora Court of Appeal.
89 year old air lifted to hospital after suffering hip fracture on board vessel south of Algarve
The Navy informed in a statement that, through the Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre of Lisbon, it coordinated, in conjunction with the Portuguese Air Force and the Center for Guidance for Urgent Patients Mar, during the early hours of this morning, the medical rescue of a passenger. 89 years old, who suffered a hip fracture after a fall while on board a passenger ship, sailing 30 miles (the equivalent of about 55 kilometres) south of Portimão.
After the alert received at 03:53, an Air Force helicopter was engaged to proceed with the removal of the passenger of English nationality. The aircraft landed at 7:25 am and the patient was taken to a hospital, confirmed the same source.