The Regional Director for Communities presented in Angra do Heroísmo the Skype Family programme, an initiative developed by the Government of the Azores that aims to "promote and facilitate the contact between deportees and their emigrated family."

"This programme consists of a network of 31 contact points between the Azores and the communities representing the diaspora and with the largest number of deported citizens, namely in the United States of America and Canada," said Paulo Teves. The government official spoke on Friday during a visit to the "Abrigo Amigo," a shelter run by one of the partner institutions of this initiative.

Paulo Teves stressed that the Government "was able to create this proximity-based network thanks to the social mission that each organisation carries out on a daily basis."

The Regional Director noted that the programme involves a network comprising 31 institutions headquartered in the archipelago, the provinces of Ontario and Quebec (Canada), and in the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and California (United States of America). As he revealed, these institutions "have spaces equipped with computers and Internet access."

In his speech, Paulo Teves praised "the work done by several organisations to promote the integration of deported citizens in the Azores," pointing out that the significant decrease of deportations to the Region since 2011 is the result of the joint intervention of several organisations in the diaspora and the Azores."

"This work, conducted in partnership with the Azorean Government, seeks to the raise the awareness of diaspora communities for the importance of naturalisation in host countries," said the government official.

With regard to the full integration of all citizens who were forced to return to the Region, Paulo Teves defended that this mission should be carried out "not only by organisations and technicians working in this area, but also by each one of us in the exercise of citizenship."   

The "Abrigo Amigo" is run by the social institution "Confederação Operária Terceirense" that shelters several deported citizens, being part of the Support Network for Human Mobility.

The addresses and operating hours of the entities that make up the Skype Family programme are available on the Internet page of the Regional Directorate for Communities on the Portal of the Regional Government.