Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus call for EU support
With the prospect of a new wave of refugees fleeing Turkey’s planned invasion of northern Syria, Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria plan to submit a text on Tuesday at a meeting of European Union ministers of justice and home affairs to highlight that the Eastern Mediterranean migrant route has not been given the appropriate attention by the EU.
The intervention by the three countries, which have borne the brunt of migrant flows from the Eastern Mediterranean, will be made as part of their joint initiative called the Eastern Mediterranean Migration Route Initiative (EMMI).
According to official data from the European Commission and the European External Action Service reports, there were 1,133 arrivals via the Western Mediterranean / Atlantic route between August 19 and September 1, another 1,369 via the Central Mediterranean route and 4,879 via the Eastern Mediterranean route.
Moreover, from September 2 to 9, there were 736 arrivals via the Western Mediterranean / Atlantic route, 480 via the Central Mediterranean route and 2,707 arrivals via the Eastern Mediterranean route.
The EMMI insists that the EU must be prepared to face this new challenge and to make further resources available to countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Turkey.
The initiative also called for an effective mechanism to resettle migrants and refugees.
