President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will continue to allow migrants it hosts to freely pass to Europe.He claimed he expects their numbers at the borders to reach 30,000 on Saturday. “What did we do yesterday… We opened the doors,” Erdogan said in Istanbul on Saturday, adding “We will …

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has played his long-standing blackmail card: he opened the gates to refugees and migrants to Greece and Europe.Turkish television channels have been broadcasting footage showing Syrian refugees and migrants from other countries walking towards Greece and Europe, after the Turkish Gendarmerie opened the Syrian gates …

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has warned migrants not qualifying for asylum to not come to Greece.  At the same time, he stressed the government’s determination to proceed with the construction of new closed facilities for migrants and asylum seekers on the northeastern Aegean islands. “The construction of modern, guarded facilities …

The Greek government is planning to create a “job vacancy” scheme where refugees and migrants can find seasonal work in the agriculture fields. The scheme aims to revitalize the countryside and the rural economy, as Greeks normally do not seek such jobs. According to an exclusive report by daily ta …

A car transporting illegal migrants crashed in the entrance of a house. The driving trafficker was trying to escape police that was chasing him on a land road near the town of Xanthi in north-eastern Greece. The accident occurred on Monday morning in the town of Xanthi, north-eastern Greece. In …

75% of the islands migrants population is from Afghanistan, Greece’s Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis said on Tuesday adding that if the Afghan migrants are transferred to the mainland  they will have no right to be returned to Turkey. In a meeting with EU Migration Commissioner Yiva Johansson, Mitarakis pointed out …

Far-rightists have beaten a correspondent of German broadcaster Deutsche Welle who was covering a rally against refugees and migrants. Thomas Jacobi is one of the two scriptwriters of the documentary ” Golden Dawn – A Personal matter.” According to media reports, the far-rights asked Jacobi to identify himself, show them …

The bodies of 12 people have been recovered from the sea after a boat carrying migrants sank 13 nautical miles south-west of the island of Paxos in the Ionian Sea short after 9 o’ clock on Saturday morning. Twenty-one  migrants have been rescued, so far. It is not known how …

The bodies of two women were found in an agricultural plot in a village by Evros in northeastern Greece on Sunday morning. The bodies were found by police patrolling the area near the border to Turkey. According to local media, the women, estimated to be 15-25 years old and of …

In a joint statement, the five mayors of the eastern Aegean islands affected by the refugee / migrant issue reject the governmental plans for closed pre-departure centers with capacities exceeding 5,000 people. The mayors complain that they were not informed in advance about the new facilities and urge New Democracy …

Port authorities on Chios have arrested a Greek for attempting to transport ten migrants from the island in the eastern Aegean Sea to the port of Piraeus in the mainland. The “patriot” had carefully hidden the migrants under a huge Greek flag. The 42-year-old human trafficker was caught during controls …

Turkey launched a verbal attack against Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, accusing him of “manipulating the public opinion.” Speaking of “inhumane ocnditions for refugees and migrants, a statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Ankara calls on Greece to “stop push-backs and the use of weapons” respect migrant’s rights and …

“Europe is treating first arrival countries like Greece as convenient ‘storage’ for refugees and migrants. Is this European solidarity?” Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview with German daily Handelsblatt on Tuesday. At the same time, he announced the hiring of additional personnel to better manage refugees and …

Members of the organization “United Macedonians” brought their barbecue in the central square of Diavata, Northern Greece, set the charcoal on fire and started to grill their pork souvlaki on Sunday morning. The action aims to provoke Muslims in the nearby refugee and migrants camp. The smell of grilled pork …

The European Union is preparing to pay Turkey tens of millions to help bolster its coast guard, a senior EU official said Wednesday, as increasing numbers of migrants and refugees are leaving Turkey in hopes of finding sanctuary or jobs in Europe. Greek authorities are struggling to cope with a …

Someone who refuses help to refugees and migrants is “neither Greek nor Christian,” Bishop of Dimitriados and Almyros, Ignatios, amid growing protests by local communities against their resettlement from the islands. Speaking to Alpha FM, Ignatios said “I cannot accept anyone who refuses to help refugees and immigrants. For me, …

Greek police released 80 migrants from a container truck near the town of Xanthi in north-eastern Greece on Monday morning.  Due to suffocating conditions many of them suffered respiratory problems. The truck driver was arrested. Several people lay on the asphalt. It was short after the tolls on Egnatia highway …

The European Commission expects the Greek authorities to follow up on the allegations of the Turkish ministry of foreign affairs over migrants’ mistreatment and the illegal practice of “pushback”, a Commission spokesperson has said. “The Commission is always concerned about reports of mistreatment of migrants and refugees and takes such …

“We do not invite any economic migrant to come to the country” government spokesman Stelios Petsas said. “Those who will ‘invest’ money to traffickers to come to Greece will lose their money because they will be sent back,” he warned. Until the end of 2020, 10,000 migrants not entitled to …

The largest number of refugees and migrants reaching Europe came via routes crossing from Turkey to Greece, mostly by sea, according to a UNHCR’s report for 2019. As of 30 September, some 80,800 refugees and migrants had arrived via the three Mediterranean routes to Europe, a 21% decrease compared to …