Greece to transfer 6,000 refugees to mainland

Greece is planning to transfers 6,000 refugees from the island camps to the mainland by the end of this year, the country’s migration minister said on Thursday.

“We plan to transfer 6,000 unprotected asylum-seekers and refugees to the mainland until the end of this year,” Dimitris Vitsas told reporters at the capital Athens.

So far in 2018, he said, over 23,000 refugees have been transferred to the mainland due to overcrowding and bad living conditions in the island camps.

Vitsas said that around 28,000 irregular migrants crossed to Greece via the Aegean Sea this year.

He said that this year 290 refugees were sent back to Turkey, 886 others returned to their home countries voluntarily and 177 refugees were sent to Germany as part of a family unification program, he added.

He also called for strengthening 2016 EU-Turkey deal on refugees.

In March 2016, EU and Turkey reached an agreement to stop irregular migration through the Aegean Sea, and improve the conditions of the Syrian refugees in Turkey.

The Greek minister said that during the international meetings in Europe, Greece always underlines the importance of cooperation with Turkey on refugees.

Vitsas said that Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu will visit Greece in January next year as the two countries security forces are in cooperation to fight against human trafficking.

Conditions in the overcrowded camps on the Greek islands have been criticized by rights groups.

Turkey hosts over 3.5 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world. The country has spent more than $32 billion from its own national resources for helping and sheltering refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.