The first relocation of refugees from Greece to another European Union country will take place on Wednesday morning, when 30 refugees will depart from Athens International Airport to take up residence in Luxembourg. They are the first six families to benefit from the relocation programme.
Four of the six families are from Syria and two are from Iraq and all have small children, including some children with special needs.
A ceremony will precede the first relocation and is to be attended by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos, European Parliament President Martin Schulz, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn and Greece’s Alternate Minister for Migration Policy Yiannis Mouzalas.
The refugees will depart at 8:30 on Wednesday morning on an Aegean Airlines flight to Brussels and will then travel to Luxembourg by bus, accompanied by a representative of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). According to sources, the six families were gathered at the Greek Asylum Service on Monday and briefed on the details of their journey and their residence in Luxembourg once they arrive.
Countries that have expressed an interest in accepting refugees for relocation so far include Belgium, France, Cyprus, Germany, Lithuania and Finland.
(source: ana-mpa)
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