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Europe Not Keeping Bargain on EU Relocation Program as 2,500 Pakistanis Go Missing

feeding Migrants
Greece was critical of the European Union on Monday due to its failure to fulfill commitments that would ease pressure on Athens as foreseen by a burden-sharing deal signed a year ago. Speaking to the Greek state broadcaster, Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas said that Greece is “angry with Europe because it must finally meet its obligations” regarding the transfer of migrants and implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement.
The relocation program that was aimed at sharing the burden of the EU’s migrant crisis, the biggest since WW2 is proceeding at a slow pace. Though Greece’s EU partners had pledged to take 33,000 refugees and migrants over the first year and again as many in the second year, only 5,000 have so far relocated from Greece to other EU areas.
Mouzalas called for sanctions against the so-called Visegrad group of countries (Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia) which are opposed to the deal. Though the European Commission had initially suggested that countries failing to meet their targets under the EU relocation scheme could face penalties, this has not occurred. This, and the failure to push for the EU-Turkey agreement, shows a lack of solidarity with Greece that the EU is obliged to have shown. As a result, Mouzalas notes, that Greek services are overwhelmed by the huge influx as migrants filing asylum requests have caused excessive concentration in the Aegean. Athens doesn’t have the freedom to transfer these migrants to the mainland due to opposition from EU partners who worry that these unregulated migrants will head north.
2,500 Pakistanis go missing
An estimated 2,500 Pakistanis have gone missing from refugee settlements around the Aegean islands. It is believed that they have fled following deportation fears, knowing that they are unlikely to qualify for asylum.
Landmark ruling for Iranian homosexual
In a landmark ruling in Greece, an Iranian man was granted asylum on the grounds of homosexuality. The decision is positive bearing in mind that the Greek justice system is slow in processing such decisions, having rejected similar requests in the past. The decision sets a precedent. The Iranian refugee was granted asylum as it was deemed that there was valid fear for his persecution in his country. The man, jovial, said he felt free for the first time in his life.

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