Refugee housing program extended

A program to secure housing for asylum seekers with a year's prepaid rent is set to extend to municipalities across the country in the effort to provide dignified living conditions to migrants and refugees.

The program, which is being managed by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), aims to house 22,000 people in apartments by the end of the year, and is being financed with 93.5 million euros in European funds. According to reports, the program is set to continue in 2018 and, possibly, 2019.

So far, participants in the initiative include the municipalities of Athens, Thessaloniki, Livadia (central Greece), Crete and 14 nongovernmental organizations. However, the effort received a further boost Tuesday with the inclusion of the Municipality of Nea Philadelphia-Halkidona, while local authorities in Trikala, Kariditsa and Larissa are set to get on...