Mitarakis: EU needs to share management of migration
It is time for solutions, actions, and results in managing migration, Migration and Asylum Minister Notis Mitarakis said in doorstep comments before the EU’s Extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting on Friday.
“We have been discussing a resolution of the migration issue for a long time. It is time for solutions, actions, and results,” Mitarakis said. He added that the current new migration and asylum plan under discussion at the EU is on the right path, but “we must guarantee that the 2016 EU-Turkey Joint Statement is implemented by all parties.” He also urged a mandatory and proportionately equal sharing of migration’s burdens across Europe.
The migration minister said that there are currently 18,000 applicants for asylum in 34 facilities in Greece. During the last 7 years, over 1 million arrivals were recorded in Greece, the basic gateway to Europe, during the Syrian crisis (especially in 2015-2016).
Arrivals numbers in Greece have risen in tandem with the rise in European inflows overall, he said. “Unfortunately, the voluntary relocation mechanism will only place less than 1% of all arrivals in MED5 countries this year,” he noted, referring to front-line migration countries Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Malta, and Spain. [AMNA]
