Giorgos Koumoutsakos

Greece applied for membership to the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), the Migration Ministry announced in a press release on Tuesday.

A group of 50 refugees - including 16 unaccompanied minors and 34 adults being reunited with their families - were to resettle in the UK on Monday.

Officials in Athens are trying to make sense of what they see as erratic behavior emanating from Ankara, which on the one hand is requesting a moratorium on military exercises in the Aegean due to the coronavirus pandemic, and on the other is continuing its tactic of low-level tensions regarding the Greek islands.

Greece's migration ministry said Thursday Finland has agreed to take in 100 unaccompanied refugee children and 30 adults, expanding the number of European countries which have begun taking in young asylum-seekers from Greece.

Greece and Austria have signed a two-year concession agreement over 181 containers to be used for the accommodation of migrants and refugees and as mobile healthcare facilities on the eastern Aegean islands and the mainland.

Switzerland has agreed to take in 22 unaccompanied migrant children from Greece, it was announced Thursday following a telephone conversation between Alternate Minister of Migration and Asylum Giorgos Koumoutsakos and his Swiss counterpart Mario Gattiker.
Switzerland said it will also contribute 1.1 million Swiss francs to support Greece in managing the migrant/refugee crisis.

Alternate Migration Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos (r) and China's Ambassador to Greece Zhang Qiyue, both wearing face masks, do an elbow bump on Wednesday during the handover at the ministry of 20,000 surgical masks, a donation from the Chinese government to Greece, specifically destined for use at the migrant reception centers on the islands of the eastern Aegean where excessive overcrowding h

Greece's Alternate Migration Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos and Britain's minister for immigration compliance, Chris Philp, on Wednesday signed a bilateral plan aimed at boosting cooperation in responding to irregular migration.

China will donate 20,000 masks to help stem the spread of coronavirus at migrant reception centers on the Greek islands, it was announced Tuesday.

The initiative was finalized Tuesday following a phone call between Alternate Migration and Asylum Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos and China Ambassador to Greece, Zhang Qiyue.

Greece transferred a dozen unaccompanied children from overcrowded migrant camps to Luxembourg on Wednesday, the first of more than 1,000 relocations that are being expedited amid concerns over the impact of coronavirus on vulnerable groups.