Greek Alt. Migration Affairs Minister Ioannis Mouzalas admitted that migrants are being taken to the Tae Kwon Do stadium at Paleo Faliro, an upmarket southern suburb of Athens. He stated that the migrants relocation is step by step however admitted that the next steps had yet to be decided upon. “I don’t know where migrants will go after here,” he said. “You’ll know then.”

Mouzalas said that the migrants would be temporarily housed at the stadium and that it would be given to the sports federation on December 17. From there, he is uncertain where the migrants will be taken.

Mouzalas admitted that a portion of the migrants that were brought to Athens from Idomeni on Wednesday are “desperate” and he is seeking their volunteer repatriation. There next option would be to seek asylum, whereas if this is not done in 30 days, the Greek state will automatically deport them back to their countries.

On Thursday, 4,500 refugees arrived at Piraeus Port. “Blue Star” carried 1,330 refugees from Mytilene and Chios, “Nisos Rhodos” carried 1,372 from Mytilene, Chios and Samos, while “Eleftherios Venizelos” had 1,771 refugees on board.