ATHENS – “In Votanikos you can see the tangible results of two policies that are unfolding: the correct choices of the State in migration and the bold planning for a better everyday life in the capital, but also in the western parts of the Attica region,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday during his speech at the handover ceremony of the Eleonas facility to the Municipality of Athens.

The prime minister recalled that in the summer of 2019 the government took over “121 miserable facilities” while, today, 31 organised accommodation facilities for migrants and refugees are operating, adding that a huge area, of almost 1,000 hectares, is returning to the local residents, for the start of a double redevelopment effort that will serve to upgrade life in the centre of the Greek capital.

“On the one hand, the country is gradually getting rid of the migrant facilities of the past, while on the other hand, with the man who envisioned this intervention, the Mayor of Athens, as central planner, Elaionas is turning into a park for sports, greenery, culture, but also of economic activity,” pointed out Mitsotakis.

“This is exactly what we are doing today by transferring this space back to its natural owner, the Municipality of Athens, and predicting that this ambitious plan for a double redevelopment will soon become a reality,” said the prime minister.

On his part, the Minister of Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarachi noted that “we put into practice the decongestion on the islands. We are implementing the plan for the decongestion of Athens.”

He added: “Citizens remember the migration crisis of the period 2015-2019 and the effects of this crisis on local communities. Elaionas is a symbol of the time of crisis, a facility that is today shutting down and returning to the citizens of Athens. The government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis set two measurable goals: firstly, a substantial reduction of flows and secondly, a drastic limitation of the effects of the crisis on local communities, by applying a strict but fair migration policy”.