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Sunday, 22 December 2024
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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-04-14Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Defence Minister Kammenos: Migrants are a European issueANA/MPA---The migrants problem is a major one and the country cannot take such large inflows, Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said on Tuesday adding that this is not an issue of «Greece but of Europe, which would have to put pressure on Turkey to apply Dublin II.""The war waves in the Middle East will lead to waves of thousands of migrants; however this issue is not a Greek one," he said and noted: "Saying I will close the entry points is one thing and seeing a sea full of children is quite another. EU needs to accept that these are refugees who cannot stay on the islands and for health reasons." He said that facilities should be created but not on the islands, as this will bring more migrants. "Instead of giving funds to Frontex so that it can go around, they should give them to set up facilities, but not on the islands as this would give the opportunity to traffickers to bring more people," he noted and added that "penalties for traffickers should become stricter." He also said that his statement, that if Greece does not stabilize then migrants would reach Berlin, was misinterpreted as this was not a threat but a reality due to the increasing migrant inflow. [02] Emergency plan for the refugeesGreece has been lately receiving large inflows of war refugees which are expected to increase, according to UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), government sources said on Monday adding that this is due to a number of factors related to the situation in the wider region.The same sources said that although the country is an entry point for refugee flows, the infrastructure in place is non-existent since the former Samaras government did not implement anything and left EU funds untapped although it knew that there would be emergencies. According to the sources, the new government has already started working on an emergency plan while some abandoned government and army buildings have started being used as refugee camps. They added that dealing with the refugee flows requires the activation of the European mechanisms, to which the Greek government has turned to, and there has been a request, through the UNHCR, for the relocation of refugees from Syria to other countries. The sources stressed that other parties should also submit specific and realistic proposals and not make use of the issue for petty politics. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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