Pakistani migrants return home voluntarily

Eighty-six Pakistani nationals returned to their home country voluntarily on Tuesday, on a flight chartered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The migrants’ return was organized in the framework of the Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) program, in cooperation with the Greek Migration and Asylum Ministry’s Asylum Service and the police.

The project is 75% financed by the European Commission’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), and 25% by Greek state funds.

At least 9,020 foreign nationals have returned to their home countries from Greece since the project was launched in September 2019, a ministry statement said.

Speaking at Athens International Airport, Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarakis said that the number of migrants returning voluntary to their home countries has doubled. He said that the government’s agreement with EU border patrol agency Frontex, reached on Monday, will boost the planning and capacity for such returns. [AMNA]