Greece will shut down three major refugee camps, according to officials. The camps will be replaced by closed facilities with a capacity of 1,000 to 5
Greece will shut down three major refugee camps, according to officials.
The camps will be replaced by closed facilities with a capacity of 1,000 to 5,000 people, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said on Wednesday.
These camps will be built on Lesvos, Samos and Chios Islands by next July, said Deputy Minister of National Defense Alkiviadis Stefanis.
One of Greece’s biggest camps, Moria on Lesvos Island has been repeatedly criticized by NGOs for inhumane conditions.
It was designed to host 3,000 people but more than 15,000 are currently living there in horrible conditions.
Currently, around 35,000 refugees are living on the eastern Aegean islands.
Greek conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt said: “Europe regards arrival countries such as Greece as convenient parking lot for refugees and migrants. Is that European solidarity? No! I will no longer accept this.”
The Greek premier promised to tighten its borders by passing a controversial new asylum law earlier this month, aiming to control the number of migrants entering the country.
The bill will ease the pressure on the Eastern Aegean islands by speeding the procedures needed to return migrants to Turkey who do not meet the requirements to be granted asylum.
About 62,190 asylum seekers and refugees have entered Greece since Nov. 17, according to data from the UN.
Turkey slams Greece over remarks on irregular migrants
Turkey’s deputy interior minister criticized Greece on Thursday for making baseless and false statements on Ankara’s handling of irregular migrants and called on Athens to fulfill its responsibilities.Ismail Catakli made the remarks at a conference on migration in Austria’s capital organized by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) where he informed attendees about Turkey’s efforts related to migration and its recent counter-terrorism operation in northern Syria.”Greece should cooperate [with Turkey] in line with neighboring laws and fulfill its responsibilities instead of…making baseless and untrue statements with false and insufficient information regarding irregular migration,” Catakli said, calling on Athens to face this “major problem.”He said Turkey worked extensively to help refugees and shouldered the burden all by itself whereas it was isolated and not sufficiently supported by the international community.Following recent remarks by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on irregular migrants, Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement Friday slamming Greece for making “baseless” claims and distorting facts.The ministry said the number of crossings by irregular migrants into Europe has been reduced by 94% since 2015, when they totaled around 850,000.“Turkey is hosting more than 4 million externally displaced people. Our Greek counterparts, as well as the international community, should understand that it is not fair for Turkey to solely shoulder the burden of migration, which is a global problem,” it said.Turkey is the world’s top refugee-hosting country and adopted an “open door” policy for Syrians following the eruption of a bloody civil war in 2011.Since then, over 3.6 million Syrians have fled the war-weary country, taking shelter in Turkey.