Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had a lunch with refugees at Lisbon's Cozinha Popular da Mouraria on Wednesday, in a symbolic gesture to welcome refugees.

At a time when "obstacles and walls are being created" and there are "limits of entry and exit of people", Portugal's stance is to open its arms to refugees, he told reporters before the lunch.

"This is a small sign of what we think," he said.

The lunch, made by five refugees from Iraq, Syria and Eritrea, was a "small gesture" worth more than "big declarations against those policies", the president said.

Rebelo de Sousa said the country would always open its arms and naturally accept people, just as the Portuguese have been accepted around the world.

Portugal has accepted to take in 10,000 refugees last year, though the number of refugees arriving here has been quite low.

The country received until Wednesday 957 refugees under the EU relocation plan, according to figures released by the European Commission.

source: Xinhua