Refugee relocation program too slow, EC report says

Only 7,272 people moved in nearly a year from Greece and Italy to other EU countries

A European Commission progress report on the migrant and refugee relocation program dubbed the process ‘very slow. The report stressed that despite the doubling of refugee relocation from Greece and Italy to other EU member states the process still lags. European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos stressed that after the refugee and migrant flows into Greece had been stemmed the target was to expedite the relocation process into other EU countries. According to the Commission’s data, a further 780 people had been relocated between May 13 and June 14, a number double compared to the previous period. The total number of refugees and migrants relocated in June from both Greece and Italy amounted to 2,280. Avramopoulos admitted that that the pace of relocation was far from the targets set by the Commission of 6,000 per month, adding that EU member-states had a lot more to do to live up to their obligations. The data revealed that nearly 49,000 refugee and migrants that applied for asylum were being hosted at hotspots in Greece waiting to be processed. The Commissioner pointed out that the Greek asylum services, in conjunction with UNHCR and EASO had started a process of registering 1,400 people that sped up the relocation procedures. Based on data taken from member states, 7,272 people had been relocated in nearly a year from Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan to 19 countries European countries. EU members states had agreed to accept 160,000 refugees and migrants from Greece and Italy until September 2017, in accordance to the September 2015 deal.