Trying to cope with more than 70,000 refugees and migrants, including 22,700 on islands, Greece’s new New Democracy government is planning to transfer more to mainland camps and detention centers and will build two more to accommodate them.
The move technically violates terms of a 2016 swap deal between the European Union and Turkey, which lets human traffickers move refugees and migrants who went to that country fleeing war and strife in other lands, to Greek islands.
Government officials said the new centers would be only temporary and serve as transit centers without saying where the refugees and migrants would go next. The first will be located in a disused military base in Karavomylos in the region of Fthiotida, while the second will be an addition to an already existing pre-departure facility in Corinth, said Kathimerini.
The Citizens’ Protection Ministry wants to them them running by the end of September as the islands saw a surge in August, overwhelming overcrowded facilities and with most of those being detained seeking asylum so they won’t be shipped back to an uncertain fate in Turkey.
The new centers, however, would be able to hold only about 900 people in tents housing up to 50 people at a time and it wasn’t said if those would be used when the fall and winter sets in. The first to be moved will be those who’ve on islands for more than a year as the government said it would speed asylum applications but also deportations.
The EU closed its borders to the refugees and migrants, dumping the problem on Greece during its 9 1/2-year-long economic crisis, the camps and centers being called among the worst in the world and cited by human rights groups and activists as unfit for humans.
hopes to have both facilities up and running by the end of the month in order to accommodate
Ministry sources who weren’t named told the paper said that individuals transported to these camps aren’t expected to remain there for more than a month.
Additional facilities are also reportedly being planned on the mainland to house as many as 4,000 others would be moved from the islands after officials there pleading for help were ignored by the former ruling Radical Left SYRIZA.
ATHENS - You wouldn’t imagine it from the busy streets of Athens and Greek cities buzzing with activity, people out dining, having coffee and socializing but large numbers of elderly in the country spend their days alone in remote areas.
FALMOUTH, MA – The police in Falmouth have identified the victim in an accident involving a car plunging into the ocean on February 20, NBC10 Boston reported.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Step inside the White House during the holidays by walking beneath the branches of a Christmas tree.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Step inside the White House during the holidays by walking beneath the branches of a Christmas tree.
UTTARKASHI, India (AP) — All 41 construction workers who were trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in northern India for more than two weeks were pulled out on Tuesday, bringing an end to a drawn-out rescue mission that had grabbed the country's attention for days.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden offered Tuesday to testify publicly before Congress, striking a defiant note in response to a subpoena from Republicans and setting up a potential high-stakes face-off even as a separate special counsel probe unfolds and his father, President Joe Biden, campaigns for reelection.
NEW YORK – The big turnout was accompanied by a festive mood, and a note of optimism was struck by the participation of the younger generation in the 32nd philanthropic meal of the Greek American Homeowners Association that took place at its headquarters in Astoria on Thanksgiving Day.
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