Greece's government has announced that Lesbos, one of the country's migrant hot spots, will receive up to 468,000 euros in aid to combat problems it has faced following the recent earthquake.
Last week, Lesbos was jolted by a 6.1 earthquake that caused widespread damage to many houses, buildings and migrant camp facilities. Greece's interior minister Panos Skourletis announced an approved package of 'extraordinary financial aid' to help with repairs on the island. A total of 300,000 euros will go to the municipality with another 168,406 euros going directly to the fund for refugee crisis management. According to the latest statistics, there are currently 3,183 migrants and asylum seekers on Lesvos, most of whom are waiting for the results of their asylum applications.
Probe underway on forcible repatriations
Meanwhile in Athens, Greece's migration minister Giannis Mouzalas has confirmed that an investigation is currently under way into claims that several Turkish asylum-seekers have been forcibly returned to their country from the Greek border. It has been reported that Greek security forces have summarily returned several people to Turkey, including one journalist, over the past few weeks. Mouzalas reiterated his opposition to such pushbacks.
"Such actions are a violation of international law and human rights. Be assured that we are looking into those claims extensively," Mouzalas told Radio 24/7. Mouzalas, who has been at the centre of the effort to handle the refugee crisis in Greece, admitted that two years after the start of the crisis, there is still a long way to go.
The refugee crisis caught us - Greece as well as Europe - completely unprepared,
Mouzalas said."It was the biggest flow of people from one continent to another in around 500 years. As a government we have tried to do all we can by building infrastructures that have provided for basic, dignified living conditions to refugees, while we have also given them access to education and healthcare services." Mouzalas concluded: "Still, there is much work to do; the European Union should introduce a mechanism to speed up the processing of asylum claims at the point of entry and relocations."