30,000 more refugees expected in Greece in next 20 days

EU-Turkey refugee deal a total failure so far

The Greek government has said it expects 30,000 to enter the country within the next 20 days, as it announced plans to build housing facilities to accommodate the increased numbers across the mainland. The spokesperson for the Coordination of Refugees, George Kyritsis set the relocation of refugees to the existing reception centers around the country as top priority. Kyritsis admitted that the EU had not yet sent any asylum observers to Greece. The Greek government is essentially confessing to the failure of the EU-Turkey refugee deal signed on March 18. Following the meeting at the Prime ministerial residence at Maximos Hall on the refugee crisis, Kyritsis informed members of the press about the situation during a briefing and made special reference to the situation at the Idomeni refugee camp, stressing that the people stuck there will be informed anew about the need to move to reception centers throughout Greece. He said that the state was capable of immediately relocating 2,000 refugees from Idomeni to other ready facilities. According to information, buses will be ready Friday at Idomeni and the authorities will attempt to persuade the refugees to relocate to other areas. Responding to press questions, Kyritsis said that despite stipulations in the EU-Turkey March 18 agreement for the presence of EU asylum observers to assists in speeding up the process by march 28, none had showed up so far. He said that the Migration Ministry will be reinforced with new staff to deal with the increased demands.