The Greek caretaker government has been forced to deal with the asphyxiating problems caused by the huge inflow of refugees to Greece’s border islands. Caretaker economy minister Nikos Christodoulakis said that financial support will be transferred to the islands with the greatest problems during a press conference on Thursday.
Managing to do in six days what the SYRIZA government had failed to do in months, the interim leadership of Greece announced that officials from the Economy ministry with experience in EU programs will be transfered to the Migration Policy ministry from Friday. The team will manage programs managed by nine European funds linked to the refugee issues.
Bulk of financing is to come from the EU Asylum Fund and the European Fund for Aid to the most Deprived. Greece hopes to have 400 million euros benchmarked from the first fund and another 330 million euros from the second. Funding has been stalled due to delays and incomplete preparation, according to Christodoulakis.
The caretaker minister appealed to shipowners to volunteer ships as temporary housing for refugees and called on NGOs to assist in providing food and suyitable conditions.
Alternate Migration Polic Minister Yiannis Mouzalas had earlier pinpointed priorities of the caretgaker government. These include decongestion measures so that local communities on islands can deal with the inflow and so that there are no sites of congestion in Athens. In that regard, the defence ministry will assist by providing army bases, staff and food to cater to the refugees’ basic needs.
Alternate Shipping Minister Christos Zois told journalists that an estimated four million refugees are currently in Turkey waiting to get across. He said that 365 of the 240 vessels of the Greek Coast Guard are immobilized and only one out of the six helicopters can fly.
Alternate Citizen Protection Minister Antonis Makrydimitris revealed that the Greek police owes a staggering nine million euros to suppliers for feeding refugees. The statistics show that Lesvos is the island that receves 50% of the refugee influx, followed by Kos (28%), Chios (14%), Samos (12%) and Leros.
