EU: Portugal has to assess Syrian asylum requests

The European Union Thursday reacted with caution over the issue of 74 Syrian refugees who arrived in Lisbon on the Portuguese national carrier TAP from the west African country Guinea Bissau on Tuesday. "There are two aspects here. EU legislation that applies to asylum seekers. When someone enters the EU territory and asks for asylum his request has to be assessed according to EU rules in place," EU spokesman for home affairs Michele Cercone told a news conference. "The other element is more about the way these people entered Portugal," he said and added that this issue has to be handled by the EU foreign services called the European External Action Service. On his part, another spokesman for the European Commission Olivier Bailly told journalists that "this is quite unprecedented as a situation". He explained that here are many angles including a legislation linked with refugees and the bilateral relations between an EU member state Portugal and a third country. Meanwhile, TAP on Thursday reportedly suspended flights to Guinea Bissau after the incident. An immigration official at Bissau airport said the Syrian refuges had Turkish passports. The Syrians had entered the country via Turkey and Morocco. Guinea-Bissau gained independence from Portugal in 1974.