ND leader calls for evacuation of Elliniko migrant camp

New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called for the evacuation of the reception center for refugees and migrants at the site of the capital’s old airport in Elliniko, southern Athens, where thousands of desperate people are living in cramped and tense conditions.

“Living conditions are unfortunately tragic, and as the summer sets in things will only get worse,” Mitsotakis said during a visit at the site on Wednesday.

Mitsotakis, who also met with mayors of the adjacent municipalities, backed their demand that authorities transfer migrants to purpose-built facilities near the capital. In a recent letter to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, five mayors of Athens’s coastal suburbs warned of the “enormous” health risks posed by the camp.

“A new Idomeni has sprung up in the center of Athens,” Mitsotakis said in reference to the makeshift migrant camp near Greece’s border with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) that was evacuated by authorities last week.

“The situation cannot be allowed to continue,” he said.