Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis today met with the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, in the context of her visit to Greece.
Ms. Mijatovic, who in recent days has visited reception centres in Lesvos, Samos and Corinth, had the opportunity for a briefing on how the government is handing the existing situation at the centres in question, bearing in mind the rapid increase in refugee/migrant flows and the need to support the local communities that have borne a significant portion of the pressure created by the mass migration flows.
Mr. Varvitsiotis underscored the government’s intention to achieve a more effective allocation of the funding Greece receives from the European Union to handle the migration issue, for the benefit of the local authorities that have been hit the hardest. He then highlighted that the government is endeavouring to distinguish between refugees and economic migrants in order to improve the procedures at reception centres, and he referred to the rapid increase in migration flows following the European Union’s imposition of sanctions on Turkey.
Finally, Mr. Varvitsiotis noted the importance of the Council of Europe’s role in defending the Rule of Law and ensuring the respect for Human Rights, and he referred to Greece’s upcoming presidency of the Council, from May to November 2020.
October 30, 2019