Published : 06-05-2020
The Greek government began moving 395 of the most vulnerable migrants from the overcrowded Moria refugee camp on Lesbos to secure accommodation on the mainland.
The migrants were transferred by ferry from Mytilene to Athen's Piraeus port.
The Greek newspaper Ekathimerini reported Monday morning that two ferries had arrived in Piraeus. "Buses were waiting at the port to collect the migrants and transfer them to reception facilities on the mainland." The Greek news agency ANA-MPA tweeted pictures of their arrival.
Euronews reported that this is the "first massive transfer" of migrants from the islands to the mainland since the lockdown began in Greece.
Authorities are expecting to move at least 2,400 in the coming weeks, according to a migration ministry official, reported the news agency Reuters.
The move came after the EU added its voice to requests that Greece do something to ease the severe overcrowding in the island camps, because of fears that if the novel coronavirus takes hold in the camps it would be very difficult to eradicate and could spread like wildfire.
According to the latest UNHCR data, there are about 38,700 migrants and asylum seekers on the Greek Islands. Reuters reports that across Greece about 110,000 migrants are living in some kind of migrant facility.
The Greek government put the country into lockdown towards the end of March and it is already starting to ease up on some of its measures. So far the country has only a couple of thousand confirmed cases of infection and deaths remain, for now, in the hundreds.
The Greek government began moving 395 of the most vulnerable migrants from the overcrowded Moria refugee camp on Lesbos to secure accommodation on the mainland.
The migrants were transferred by ferry from Mytilene to Athen's Piraeus port.
The Greek newspaper Ekathimerini reported Monday morning that two ferries had arrived in Piraeus. "Buses were waiting at the port to collect the migrants and transfer them to reception facilities on the mainland." The Greek news agency ANA-MPA tweeted pictures of their arrival.
Euronews reported that this is the "first massive transfer" of migrants from the islands to the mainland since the lockdown began in Greece.
Authorities are expecting to move at least 2,400 in the coming weeks, according to a migration ministry official, reported the news agency Reuters.
The move came after the EU added its voice to requests that Greece do something to ease the severe overcrowding in the island camps, because of fears that if the novel coronavirus takes hold in the camps it would be very difficult to eradicate and could spread like wildfire.
According to the latest UNHCR data, there are about 38,700 migrants and asylum seekers on the Greek Islands. Reuters reports that across Greece about 110,000 migrants are living in some kind of migrant facility.
The Greek government put the country into lockdown towards the end of March and it is already starting to ease up on some of its measures. So far the country has only a couple of thousand confirmed cases of infection and deaths remain, for now, in the hundreds.
