Dimitris Vitsas

A delegation from Samos is to travel to Athens in the coming days to present its objections to plans for a new migration reception center at a military facility on the island to officials of the Migration Ministry and the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (GEETHA). 

The government is planning an overhaul of its management of the refugee crisis, both on an administrative and budgetary level, Kathimerini has learned, while Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas Wednesday indicated that Greece was open to bilateral discussions about the crisis.

Greece's migration minister has warned that mainstream political parties across Europe are adopting a "xenophobic agenda" to maintain voter support.

Dimitris Vitsas on Wednesday said the shift in policy had occurred despite a sharp drop in refugee and migrant arrivals in the European Union since 2015.

Athens is prepared to sign a bilateral deal with Berlin for the return of refugees that were first registered in Greece, according to Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and Migration Policy Minister Dimitris Vitsas, who gave separate interviews to Spiegel Online and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung respectively.

Athens and Berlin appear to have different takes on the deal for the return of migrants from Germany to Greece that was agreed in principle during a European Union leaders' summit last month, Kathimerini understands. 

A delegation from the German Interior Ministry will start discussions with officials in Athens on Tuesday about Berlin's proposals to return 3,300 migrants and refugees that were registered in the Eurodac fingerprint database in Greece but still managed to make their way to Germany.

Migration Policy Minister Dimitris Vitsas has sent a letter to the mayors of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros in an attempt to reassure them that asylum seekers will not be returned from Germany to hotspots on the islands.

Vitsas dismissed speculation that the government made a deal with Berlin for a suspension of planned VAT hikes on these islands in exchange for migrant returns.

The number of refugees and migrants trapped on the islands of the eastern Aegean will drop from 17,000 to 10,000 in September, Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas said on Monday, speaking to state-run broadcaster ERT.

The leader of the Moria community on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos entered the second day of a hunger strike on Monday to demand immediate action to ease overcrowding at the Moria reception and identification center, which is currently bursting at the seams with around 8,000 asylum seekers.

Tensions on the Aegean island of Lesvos have peaked as 900 migrants who left the Moria reception center last week due to riots have sought refuge in local squares and parks and another camp near a seaside village. 

Local authorities have complained that new arrivals at Skala Sykamia have strained tensions with residents and store owners who are preparing for the peak tourist season.