Greek migration minister on Valetta’s summit’s admission of Turkey’s role in refugee crisis
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The video shown by Mr. Mouzalas to his EU counterparts on November 9 in Brussels
Greece’s Alternate Minister for Migration Policy Yiannis Mouzalas on Friday welcomed the clear emphasis given for the first time by European leaders to Turkey’s role as an arena for a solution to the refugee crisis, during their meeting with African heads of state and government in Malta.
“It is the first time that the EU adopts the position that [Greece] had expressed in April, namely that the issue of [migration/refugee] flows can only be solved by Turkey, on Turkish territory, and that cooperation with Turkey is needed to stop the uncontrolled flows,” he said.
During his address at the EU interior ministers’ council held on Nomber 9, Mouzalas had presented a three-minute video to show that the entry of migrants and refugees from Turkey was taking place in an organised manner involving thousands, and without secrecy. The video was based on maps supplied by the EU border agency Frontex, archive material collected by the Greek coast guard and photographs published in the media.
A second video is also being prepared and will be sent to MEPs, along with Greece’s appeal to stop the tragedy and to stress that it can and must be stopped on Turkey’s shores by banning traffickers and the relocation of refugees directly from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon to European countries.
“The aim of the two videos is to show Europe that it must move more quickly because the situation is now inhuman,” Mouzalas said.
He noted that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ visit to Turkey on November 17-18 had both a practical and political side. The practical request will be a discussion with Greece’s neighbour on how to restrict migration flows and the political request will be that Greece participate in any negotiations between the EU and Turkey. Another milestone will be the EU summit on November 29, in which Turkey will also take part, he added.
During the Malta summit, both Greece and Italy had stressed that they could not be asked to set up reception facilities for refugees at the same time as other European countries were putting up fences and the relocation programmes were not being implemented.
He announced that at least three of five hotspots will be operational on the Greek islands by the end of the year, while the other two will be near completion, and that hotspot functions like fingerprinting and identification were taking place on all the islands.
The minister also outlined the efforts currently underway to prepare places to house refugees in Greece, noting that the ministry was now gravitating toward setting up large numbers of small hospitality centres and facilities, instead of the two large centres of about 10,000 originally envisaged.
On financing from the EU, he said Greece had already received six million euros and that another 30 was in the process of disbursement but stuck in red tape.