Athens – Yannis Mouzalas, Greek Deputy Migration Minister, said Greece was taking all the measures as if borders have closed for good by activating a Plan B to deal with the refugee emergency.
He said on Monday in Athens that government has submitted an emergency plan to the EU requesting an extra 450 million euros for setting up more temporary camps for the refugees that would be trapped in Greece.
Mouzalas noted that the move by the Balkan countries to stepped up border restrictions in the past week following Vienna’s cap on crossings into Austria, has increased to more than 20,000 within a few days, the number of refugees stranded in Greek.
The minister confirmed that the number could exceed 70,000 in a month, as the influx from Turkey via the Aegean Sea continued unabated.
He said more than one million refugees and migrants have landed on the Greek islands over the past year through Turkey to escape wars and poverty and continue their journey to central and northern Europe.
Mouzalas noted that before the construction of new fences and the increased border controls across the Balkans, the overwhelming majority of incomers were leaving Greece through the neighboring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) within a week on average.
He said that in spite of the progress achieved in recent months by establishing a total of seven reception centres on the Greek islands and the mainland so far, Greek cannot accommodate such numbers in the current overcrowded facilities.
Mouzalas said as a result, thousands of refugees, including entire families with children and elderly injured on wheelchairs, are spending the cold nights in unofficial camps set up in open squares in Athens or along the national highways.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
“Their common goal is to reach the border crossing of Idomeni between Greece and FYROM.
“The latest estimates by Greek police says more than 6,500 people are already trapped in the border camp there for days waiting to cross the border,’’ he said.
The minister said that in a bid to regulate the flow until the border situation improves, Greek government put a cap on the number of passengers allowed on aboard ships sailing to Piraeus port from the islands at least until Sunday night.
He said 1,200 refugees and migrants who arrived in the port on Saturday evening and the early hours of Sunday from the islands of Lesvos and Chios joined the 2,000 people who have been temporarily given shelter at the port’s passenger terminals over the past few days.
Mouzalas noted that Greek government believes that the situation would improve once the NATO operation in the Aegean to assist Greece and Turkey in monitoring refugee flows and cracking down on smugglers’ rings will start bearing fruits in coming weeks.
“We believe that the number of people entering Greece which stands at about 5,000 per day at the moment will shrink by 70 per cent.
The minister underlined that Athens had requested the European border control agency Frontex 1,700 officers and 26 vessels several months ago and so far only 700 officers on eight vessels have been deployed in the Aegean,.
He commended the efforts and supported by Greek and foreign humanitarian groups and ordinary citizens in offering aid to people in need.
“Companies and individuals donate food, clothing, blankets and medicines.
“The volunteers, including doctors and translators are rushing to the new temporary camps from Piraeus port to the central Athens Victoria square to assist the refugees,’’ he said. (Reuters/NAN)
