Greek migration minister urges for European path on refugee debate

Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas urged on Wednesday all EU member states to follow a European path on handling the migrant and refugee crisis instead of unilateral acts. He called on EU countries to develop a new unified asylum system across Europe under a new Dublin regulation by the end of 2018. The system will have to take into consideration not only the reception countries like Spain, Italy, Malta, Greece, and Cyprus, but the destination countries like Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland as well, Vitsas said during a press briefing in Athens. The Greek minister explained that refugee flows have fallen by 96 percent in 2018 in comparison to 2015, but still 60,000 people remain stranded across Greece. The Greek government steps up efforts to decongest the northern Aegean Sea islands by accelerating the assessing procedures of asylum seekers and by creating new hospitality centers on the mainland. In the first six months of 2018, the asylum service has recorded 30,000 requests across the country, from which 21,000 requests have been examined, Vitsas said. And from March until June, a total of 6,618 vulnerable people or eligible for asylum have been transferred to the mainland, he added. He ruled out the idea of forming new reception centers to accommodate those newly arriving on the islands. Regarding the readmission of asylum seekers from Germany, Vitsas explained that the three parts, Germany, Greece and Spain are close to a deal after holding talks on the sidelines of the EU summit in June. If the deal is sealed, it will be in power until the revision of the Dublin Regulation on asylum. Greece and Spain will readmit asylum seekers identified in the future at the German-Austria border by German authorities. According to statistic figures, in the first half of 2018 there were 1,500 requests for returns, he said. For its part, Germany will gradually accept and conclude the family reunification cases in Greece to guarantee family unity. At the same time, Germany will accept the 2,000 migrants for the family reunification as agreed from Greece and there are another 900 requests that have not been examined yet, he added.

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Greek migration minister urges for European path on refugee debate