Tag Archives: refugees

Greek authorities and the Frontex will release a huge surveillance Zeppelin above the island of Samos to monitor migrants who illegally try to reach Greece and Europe. The installation of the ominous balloon will be certainly a grotesque attraction for the tourists who visit the island in the East Aegean …

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Labor and Social Affair Minister, Nikos Vroutsis, has cancelled a ministerial decision regarding the issuing of social security number (AMKA) to migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, unaccompanied refugee children and non-EU nationals. The decision, in fact a circular signed by three SYRIZA ministers for Health, Migration and Social Solidarity was issued on …

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The Human Rights Watch is calling on the new Greek government to protect Children, asylum seekers, people with disabilities. In an open letter to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the HRW says that he should demonstrate that he intends to put protecting human rights high on his agenda, Human Rights Watch …

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Following a two-and-a-half-year legal battle in Greek courts, Salam Kamal-Aldeen, founder of the non-profit Team Humanity has filed an unprecedented application with the European Court of Human Rights challenging Greece’s crackdown on NGOs rescuing refugees at sea. The application filed with the Strasbourg Court challenges the legality of the Greek …

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Negotiations have begun early Saturday morning between police officers and about 50 refugees who set up tents at Syntagma Square in downtown Athens on Friday afternoon. Families with small children have camped opposite the Greek Parliament with placards and card-boards with slogans reading “Why do you force us to stay …

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Migrants in Turkey continue to flock to the borders to Greece following false rumors that Ankara has opened the borders and would allow them to go through. By train and bus, they move to the province of Edirne, in North-West Turkey, which borders to neighboring Greece. Turkish security forces have …

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Mothers with children in their arms tried to break through the riot police chain in Diavata as hundreds of asylum-seekers want to reach the borders to North Macedonia and from there go to Europe, most likely to Germany. In an unprecedented incident a man is holding a little girl in …

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Two men are missing and 36 people were rescued when a boat carrying migrants from Turkey to the island of Chios crashed into the rocks and the passengers fell into the sea in the early morning  hours of Thursday. The inflatable boat left the Turkish coast and reached the rocky …

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Residents and local authorities of Vilia showed the ugly face of xenophobia towards a group of refugees who were relocated from reception camps to a local hotel. Just two hours after the refugees’ arrival, a mob gathered outside the hotel reportedly hurling stones and petrol bombs, with some to have …

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The European Union’s deal with Turkey to return “irregular” migrants has led to policies and practices in Greece that are short-sighted, ineffective and dangerous, 25 organizations including Oxfam said on Thursday, ahead of the deal’s third anniversary on Monday. In an open letter to European leaders, they said that as …

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There are about 15,000 immigrants living in the Greek islands, Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas said on Monday. He pointed out at the overpopulation of the hot spots on Samos and Moria on Lesvos. And he stressed that the majority of migrants arriving in Greece nowadays are from Afghanistan and countries …

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Dionysis Arvanitakis, the baker of Kos, a truly gentle soul, passed away at the age of 79. ealy Sunday morning. He was surrounded by his beloved family members. Arvanitakis gained worldwide publicity when at the peak of the refugee crisis he was donating loafs of bread and fyllo-pastries to the …

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A 4-year-old child died and 27 people were injured when a van transferring migrants collided with a truck on the old national highway Thessaloniki-Kavala on Friday night. Among the injured are five children with the youngest to be a 5-month-old baby. Injured are also two traffickers who are hospitalized guarded.  …

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A new grocery store is about to open on the island of Samos, one of the five Greek islands that have received the main inflow of refugees. However, this store will be different form the others: It will be run by a refugees’ cooperative and its customers will be refugees …

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Portugal is to discuss with Greece how refugee reception is to be carried out by the Greek authorities, the minister of internal administration Eduardo Cabrita said on Tuesday. Eduardo Cabrita, who began a two-day official visit to Greece on Monday, said Portugal was ready to receive migrants from refugee camps …

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Two children died and some ten people are missing when an inflatable boat capsized 50 meters from the shore in Bodrum, Turkey, short before 6 o’ clock Monday morning. There were mostly women and children and even a baby on board of the 6-meter inflatable boat that was supposed to …

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The bodies of four people have been recovered and estimated 30 people are still missing twelve hours after a refugee boat sank in the sea area between the Turkish coast and the island of Chios. One woman was rescued because she wore a life jacket and managed to swim to …

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The prosecutor of Greece’s Supreme Court has launched an inquiry into alleged mismanagement of EU Funds given to Greece for handling the migration crisis. The investigation follows reports and claims in Greek press. Supreme Court Public Prosecutor Xeni Dimitriou on Monday ordered the start of a preliminary investigation into press …

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Dozens of migrants from Iraq and Iran have been camping on the main square of Thessaloniki  and outside the police station awaiting to be arrested. Once arrested, the police  can give them the necessary documents so that they can apply for asylum, many of them told local media. Families with …

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The Director of Refugees Reception and Identification Centers in Greek Ministry of Migration was fired early afternoon Thursday.  Previous to his dismissal, Andreas Iliopoulos had given an interview to a Greek newspaper in which he was asking the prosecutor’s intervention with regards management of EU Funds for the refugees and …

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