Today we visited together with the Minister of Migration Policy, Mr Dimitris Vitsas, the reception centre in Ritsona and the rental accommodation scheme through the ESTIA programme in Livadia.
The rental accommodation scheme is mutually beneficial for both people seeking protection and for the local communities.
I want to once again publicly praise the mayors together with the people of Greece, who have demonstrated from the very beginning their humanity and hospitality. Also, all those of you who are dedicated to this very important mission here within this camp.
As you all know, the European Commission has been providing substantial financial and technical support to Greece – more than EUR 1.5 billion of financial support have been made available overall.
Almost 22,000 people have been relocated from Greece alone so far, including more than 500 unaccompanied minors. The European Union must continue to show solidarity both to Greece and Italy.
I would like to commend the cooperation and devotion of the Greek authorities, notably the Asylum Service, in carrying out effectively their part. I also want to praise and congratulate the authorities for their recent successful operations in dismantling and cracking down some smuggling networks, particularly involved in document fraud.
Greece has also improved reception conditions for migrants and asylum seekers, including vulnerable persons and unaccompanied minors.
Definitely, we are not where we were three years ago. The situation has changed.
Much progress has been achieved, but now is not the time to slow down. Efforts must be made to accelerate the asylum procedure in order to reduce the time that asylum applicants remain on the islands.
The EU-Turkey Statement still holds and delivers but the migratory situation remains unfortunately volatile. We remain vigilant. It is therefore necessary to maintain and speed up the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement in order to accelerate returns to Turkey, while increasing the pre-removal detention capacity.
All urgent works must be completed to improve and upgrade the situation in all reception facilities, as here for instance, in full compliance with EU standards, and also the necessary measures need to be taken in order to provide safe zones and enough accommodation for unaccompanied minors.
Finally, it is important to make adequate and timely use of all the European funds put at Greece’s disposal through national programmes.
The challenges that Greece is confronted with are our common European challenges. The Commission stands ready to continue supporting Greece and providing operational and financial support.