Greece intends to evacuate three refugee camps and relocate the refugees to other closed camps. Currently, more than 27,000 people are staying in the three camps on the islands of Lesbos, Samos, and Chios off the coast of Turkey.
In the coming weeks, about 20,000 asylum seekers must also be moved from the islands to the Greek mainland. These steps follow an increase in the number of migrants trying to enter the country via Turkey.
Among the camps to be replaced is the notorious Moria camp. Officially, it has a capacity of around 3,000 people, but currently, over 15,000 migrants live there in deplorable conditions. The other two camps, on Kos and Leros, will be renovated and expanded. The situation on those islands is reportedly less severe, with another 5,000 people residing there.
In the past four months, 40,000 migrants have arrived in Greece, reports the Greek government. In a recent interview with the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Prime Minister Mitsotakis criticized the European Union for "ignoring the problem." "This cannot continue like this," stated the Greek prime minister.
The European Court of Auditors is very critical of how the EU handles migrants and refugees arriving in Greece and Italy. In recent years, after more than a million refugees from the Middle East and North Africa arrived, an emergency operation was launched to fairly distribute immigrants across Europe. Greece and Italy had requested this. These two countries simply could not manage the influx.
Last week, the European Court of Auditors found that the measures are far from sufficient. The goal was to allow people to move faster from Greece and Italy to the rest of the European Union. Although the number of refugees arriving in Europe has since decreased, this has not reduced the pressure on the so-called ‘hotspots.’
In Greece, which faces the biggest problems, capacity has been increased but not nearly enough to clear the backlog. Registration of refugees and the collection of their fingerprints have improved significantly, but the process remains too slow. There is also a shortage of experts who must determine whether individuals qualify for asylum.