Refugee

Plans by the Citizens' Protection Ministry aimed at tackling a burgeoning new refugee crisis foresee the transfer of some 10,000 asylum seekers from overcrowded camps on the islands of the eastern Aegean to less cramped facilities on the mainland among other measures, Kathimerini understands.

Accommodation will be created for an additional 4,000 refugees on the Greek mainland by November, the head of the International Organization for Migration's mission in Greece, Gianluca Rocco, said on Wednesday, adding that the government's plan to speed up the processing of asylum applications and ease pressure on overcrowded facilities on the Aegean islands is in the right direction.

Accommodation will be created for an additional 4,000 refugees on the Greek mainland by November, the head of the International Organization for Migration's mission in Greece, Gianluca Rocco, said on Wednesday, adding that the government's plan to speed up the processing of asylum applications and ease pressure on overcrowded facilities on the Aegean islands is in the right direction.

Turkey says it cannot cope with the burden of more than four million refugees, but a threat to open its borders should be seen in the broader context of the Syrian war, Turkish-EU relations and Balkan politics

In August, 7712 refugees and migrants arrived on nine islands in the eastern Aegean Sea, which is more than July when 5008 people entered Greece by sea. This is the report of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, BGNES reported.

Germany on Sept. 12 reaffirmed its commitment to the EU-Turkey refugee agreement, amid fears of another refugee wave due to the Syrian regime's attacks in the northwestern region of Idlib.       

A two-day conference is beginning in Istanbul on Sept. 12 to discuss the economic inclusion of young refugees in their host communities.         

With Greece already struggling to deal with an influx in arrivals of undocumented migrants from neighboring Turkey, comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday that his country may "open the gates" to migrants if it does not receive more international support fueled concern in Athens and beyond.

The government is preparing a comprehensive plan to address all aspects of the migration and refugee crisis Alternate Citizen's Protection Minister for Migration George Koumoutsakos said after an inter-ministerial meeting at the Citizen's Protection Ministry.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has called on the international community to provide support and show solidarity to Turkey and other host countries that have been hosting millions of Syrian refugees since the start of the civil war in the Middle Eastern country.