Greece: EU’s shameful failure

Written by David Fletcher 14 Oct 2016
Greece: EU’s shameful failure

Amnesty International reported 60,000 refugees stranded in Greece due to EU countries not implementing their agreed migrant quotas. Empty promises leave refugees in appalling conditions. Huge numbers have severe health problems, suffer acute stress, anxiety and depression. Only 7,500 are housed in apartments or hotels. The majority live in camps with conditions unfit even for short-term stay: sleeping on floors, poor hygiene conditions, harassment, violence, and lack of police involvement to resolve conflicts. Amnesty called for the international community to implement its promises and relocate asylum seekers from Greece urgently. The EU should increase the number of relocation places, grant humanitarian visas and establish fast-track and accessible family reunification procedures. The mechanisms to distribute asylum seekers across the EU already exist, but member states are either stalling or actively resisting efforts to implement them.

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