EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GREECE-EU COMMISSIONER Greece faces "out of control" migrant crisis - EU Commissioner

Record ID: 135667

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GREECE-EU COMMISSIONER Greece faces "out of control" migrant crisis - EU Commissioner
  • Date: 6th September 2015
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (SEPTEMBER 3, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AVRAMOPOULOS AND TIMMERMANS LEAVING PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE AND APPROACHING JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) EU COMMISSIONER FOR MIGRATION, DIMITRIS AVRAMOPOULOS, SAYING: "We are here with a very specific goal: first to send a message of solidarity and support to Greece which in this period faces tremendous pressure fr
  • Embargoed: 21st September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAE48RTGQMRL6ZY2IK33IY01XWN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The vice president of the European Commission and the Commissioner for Migration arrived in Athens on Thursday (September 3) and held a series of meetings with Greek officials as the number of refugees and migrants arriving in the Aegean islands kept increasing, pushing local infrastructure to its limits.
    Frans Timmermans, the first vice president of the European Commission, said the crisis was unprecedented and that it called for a European response.
    "Europe must fight an unprecedented crisis, a humanitarian crisis, a political crisis and we must find a European response for a problem that cannot be dealt by each member-state separately," Timmermans said at the start of a meeting with interim Greek prime minister Vassiliki Thanou.
    Earlier on Thursday Greece asked EU for about 700 million euros to build infrastructure to shelter the hundreds of refugees and migrants arriving on its shores daily.
    The cash-strapped country has seen a rise in the number of refugees and migrants - mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan - arriving by sea from nearby Turkey.
    Aid agencies estimate about 2,000 people cross over to Greek islands including Kos, Lesbos, Samos and Chios every day.
    The Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said the situation was out of control and called for financial and technical assistance to be offered to Greece.
    "We are here with a very specific goal: First to send a message of solidarity and support to Greece which this period faces tremendous pressure from the refugee and the migration issue which is out for control. It is obvious that Greece, being one of the main entry points and feeling this pressure, is called upon to take measures having of course the financial, technical and political support of the European Union," Avramopoulos told journalists after the meeting with the Greek prime minister.
    Greece said on Thursday it planned to set up a new operations centre and take steps to improve conditions at the already existing refugee centers.
    Timmermans said he had come to Athens to offer help from the EU.
    "We need structural solutions especially for those countries most affected by this crisis and Greece is one of them. I am overwhelmed by the attitude of the Greek population, very welcoming, the humanitarian element prevails in every discussion in Greece. I saw that in the presser, it was reported to me. People wanted to show their hearts and want to make the right moves but they need assistance and the European Commission is there, with the help of the Greek government, to offer that assistance. That's why we are here today," said Timmermans.
    The migrant crisis in Greece has been particularly severe on the island of Lesbos, which has seen a record number of refugees arriving this year, according to the British charity International Rescue Committee (IRC).
    IRC has urged police to speed up the registration process to avoid tensions on the island following calls from the mayor of Lesbos for the refugee crisis on the island to be officially categorized as a state of emergency.
    Nearly 300,000 men, women and children have crossed the Mediterranean this year, including nearly 181,500 in Greece and 108,500 in Italy, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
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