European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos on Friday warned that EU-Turkey deal must be kept, otherwise the neighboring country would unleash waves of migrants to Greece.
Avramopoulos spoke with President of the Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos stressing that the European Union-Ankara agreement “must be honored at all costs”.
The meeting took place in the aftermath of violent upheavals in migrant camps on Lesvos and Chios during the week. Tensions have risen in the overcrowded hospitality camps, while locals complain of repeated burglaries and thefts from stranded migrants.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatens Europe that he will unleash almost three million refugees and migrants currently on Turkish soil. His reaction came after the European Parliament decided to freeze EU accession talks with Turkey in protest at Ankara’s “disproportionate” reaction to the failed coup in July.
The Greek government is reluctant to transfer migrants to the mainland in fear that Turkey might send more to the islands. At the same time, Chios and Lesvos authorities demand that the overflowing migrant camps should be decongested.
The fire that broke out at the Moria camp on Lesvos, leaving two dead and two seriously injured brought the government and Migration Policy Ministry Yiannis Mouzalas under fire again on account of the conditions in migrant facilities. Mouzalas said to ANA-MPE news agency that the explosion of the gas stove that caused the fire was an accident that could happen anywhere.
Local authorities remain resistant to more migrant centers being built on the islands. The migration minister though said he hoped that from December onward, between 100 and 200 migrants will be returned daily to Turkey.
Mouzalas further said that Athens is fighting on three diplomatic fronts: for transferring migrants to the mainland, changes in the Dublin Treaty and the request for a single European mechanism that would take care of the return of illegal migrants to their countries.
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