Thousands of refugees are stuck in Greece and Italy, MEPs urge EU countries to act fast
Just over 18,000 refugees out of the 160,000 asylum-seekers in Italy and Greece have been moved since September 2015, when the EU Member States committed to relocate them. Now, MEPs urge countries to act fast as both “frontlines” are in dire need of assistance.
Under two Council decisions adopted in September 2015, EU Member States committed to relocate 160,000 asylum-seekers from Italy and Greece by September 2017. According to the European Parliament, as of 11 May, only 18,418 persons have been moved. According to UNHCR data, around 50,000 asylum-seekers are still stuck in Greece, while Italy faced a new record in 2016 with 181.436 new arrivals.
“There’s no doubt that relocation is vital for the success of our migration and asylum policies based on solidarity and responsibility. One element remains critical, the political will and the mutual cooperation and trust between member states.
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Member States have relocated in total more than 18,000 persons. Our common goal is for all member states to contribute fairly to relocation. Right now 12,000 applicants in Greece and around 4,000 in Italy are registered and ready to be relocated. There are regrettably member states that have not relocated a single person. I want to be clear that this is in breach of their obligations,” Dimitris Avramopoulos, Member of the European Council in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, said.
Against the background of severe migration and refugee crises in the summer of 2015, the EU adopted two emergency decisions to relocate thousands of refugees. 160,000 asylum seekers with a high chance of being granted refugee status from Italy and Greece were to be relocated by September 2017 to other member states where their applications would be processed.
In a subsequent decision approved by the Council in September 2016 – which was opposed by Parliament – member states agreed that 54,000 out of the 160,000 places could be used for the admission of Syrian refugees from Turkey, as part of the EU-Turkey migration deal, rather than from Italy or Greece.
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