Deputy Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas on Monday admitted that the Greek government lost control of refugees at Idomeni and non government organizations did damage on migrant handling.
Mouzalas returned to parliament after being hospitalized for a health problem. The deputy minister admitted the government failed to control the chaos in Idomeni, allowing NGOs to act freely and doing damage to the whole refugee handling issue.
Responding to questions from opposition MPs, the migration deputy said that along legitimate NGOs, some others acted in Idomeni for their own purposes. He acknowledged the fact that the government did not monitor the situation and that some suspicious NGOs did illegal acts and did damage to the cause.
“This happened only in Idomeni due to the fact that we could not control the chaos that existed there. It takes time for people to become desperate. It takes time to give shape to chaos, but, slowly, order is restored,” Mouzalas said.
The deputy minister said that the government’s planning is on an international level and asked opposition MPs to consider what happened at Calais in France, “in order to avoid a bloodshed.”
As regards to NGOs that will get funds from the European Union, Mouzalas said that only eight will be funded. “We tried, along with the prime minister, to get EU funding for refugees as a state, but did not succeed, and the funds will be given to NGOs. What we managed was to get Greece to cover 70 percent of the personnel required to handle refugees and 80 percent of food purchases,” the deputy minister said.
Referring to the refugee identification and reception centers, Mouzalas noted that the EU-Turkey agreement is delayed. “We have to endure another 25 days before decongestion. I’m sure you will not relive the nightmare of last summer,” he said. He also referred to the railway line in Idomeni which reopened shortly after being occupied by refugees. Mouzalas emphasized that the railway line will not close again.
“You can possibly blame us for not doing what we ought to have done a month ago, but we could not. Now the plan is in progress and soon Idomeni will not be a problem,” he concluded.
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