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Greece

Thousands of Asylum Seekers Moved to New Camp on Greece's Lesvos Island

Police on the Greek island of Lesvos are moving thousands of migrants and refugees from the fire-gutted Moria camp to a new tent city nearby. Seventy female officers in protective suits were flown in to organize the transfer of women...

Greece Takes Over Management of Asylum Facilities from NGOs

The Greek government announced on Wednesday it is taking over twenty-eight facilities hosting asylum applicants on the Greek mainland from non-governmental organizations. Minister of Migration Notis Mitarakis said that the facilities will now become legal entities of their own and...

Greece Defends Temporary Halt of Asylum Requests

The Greek government late on Monday defended its decision to stop processing asylum requests for one month after thousands of migrants converged at the border seeking to enter the EU from Turkey, saying it was in response to “emergency...

Greece Suspends Acceptance of New Asylum Applications

Among the extraordinary measures Greece announced on Sunday evening, was the suspension of all asylum application procedures for those who enter the country illegally from now until April 1. This decision came after the third day of clashes in Evros,...

Greece Now Issues Asylum Decisions in Twenty-Four Days

Greece's Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis said on Friday that the country can now issue a decision on asylum applications in 24 days, a period considerably faster than what was the case in the past. Speaking with SKAI television, Mitarakis noted...

Asylum Seekers to Get Social Security Number in Greece in Apparent Policy U-Turn

Five key Greek ministries on Monday decided that the country will re-introduce the practice of granting a social security number to all migrants who have applied for asylum in Greece, something that the current conservative government had stopped doing...

EU Asylum Office Doubles Staff and Increases Funding for Greece

The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) recently decided to double the number of its personnel in Greece and significantly increase its funding to assist the country in its efforts to speed up procedures for granting or rejecting political asylum. Currently...

Greece Transfers 500 Asylum Seekers From the Islands to Mainland

The transportation of 500 individuals from the Aegean islands to accommodation facilities for asylum seekers throughout Greece was underway on Tuesday. The transfer began on Monday, when 270 individuals departed from Lesvos on a regular ferry, while another 230 are...

Two Asylum Seekers Commit Suicide in Northern Greece

Two asylum seekers in their 30s who were living in a hotel packed with refugees in northern Greece hanged themselves over Christmas, a charity said on Thursday. The bodies of the two men, an Afghan father of two aged 32...

Greek Parliament Approves Stricter Asylum Law

Greek MPs in the early hours of Friday approved a government bill aimed at easing pressure on the Aegean islands by speeding up asylum procedures and returns of migrants to Turkey, despite warnings by rights organizations describing it as...

Human Rights Watch Blasts Greece's Proposed Asylum Legislation

The international group Human Rights Watch on Tuesday sharply criticized the new asylum bill brought forward by Greece's new conservative government as it restricts legal protection only to individuals who are fleeing wars. “The bill is a naked attempt to...

New Asylum Bill Reaches Greek Parliament Amid Heavy Criticism

The new bill laying out the procedures by which refugees and migrants are either granted asylum status or are deported came before the Greek Parliament late Monday night. The aim of the new bill is to significantly reduce the time...

Greece Receives the Most Child Asylum Requests in the EU in Relation to Population

According to the findings of a recent study titled ''Data on Children in Migration'' conducted by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, Greece is the EU member state with the highest number of child asylum requests...

Greece Tightens Health Care Provisions for Migrants, Asylum Seekers

The Greek government is planning to tighten up procedures for providing free health care and other benefits to thousands of migrants and asylum seekers. According to a circular issued this week to all state agencies by the Labor Ministry, the...

Asylum Seekers Taken from Athens Squats to be Moved to Migrant Camps

Greek authorities announced on Tuesday that a total of 134 asylum seekers who were evicted from squats in Exarchia in downtown Athens will be moved to state reception facilities in the next several days. The 134 migrants – chiefly consisting...