European Asylum Support Office bolsters presence in Greece

Alternate Minister for Migration Policy Giorgos Koumoutsakos and the executive director of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), Nina Gregori, on Tuesday signed an agreement paving the way for the agency to acquire a branch in Greece as part of its efforts to bolster support for the country as it struggles to manage rising numbers of refugees and migrants.

The agreement comes after the EASO recently announced that it would be doubling the number of personnel it has in Greece from 500 to 1,000, while also increasing funding by 30 percent to 36 million euros for 2020.

Greece has promised faster processing of asylum requests of more than 70,000 pending from previous years, to shut five overcrowded refugee camps on its islands and replace them with more restrictive holding centers.
EASO staff will be posted to camps on the islands and mainland Greece and will...