Commissioner Avramopoulos met with Minister for Migration Ioannis Mouzalas in Athens today and issued the following statement:
I met with Minister Mouzalas today in Athens to discuss the pressing issues of the humanitarian situation in Greece. Greece is facing exceptional winter conditions, but no one can remain in the cold in these conditions.
I welcome the response of the Greek authorities to move vulnerable persons to winterized reception capacities and to deploy a navy ship to shelter the migrants in need in Lesvos. The same should urgently be done in Samos.
Priority should be given to the most vulnerable, in particular families with children.
The EU continues to support and will continue supporting Greece. The European Union has provided more than 1 billion EUR in funding to the Greek authorities as well as to partner organisations, including for the purpose of providing for appropriate reception facilities.
In this context Ι welcome the fact that over the past weeks significant progress has been made in the mainland.
The necessary space should urgently be made available on the islands now for winterised reception places.
In parallel, appropriate measures, including closed facilities, should be taken so that people who have no right to stay on the territory do not abscond and can therefore efficiently be returned.
This will not only substantially improve the overall situation on the islands, it will also send a strong message to criminal smuggling networks.
In this framework, I welcome the appointment of four coordinators on the islands that should immediately take over their tasks and I look forward to seeing the appointment of the remaining one.
The European Commission will continue to monitor the situation very closely.