Athens, February 18 The Greek Ministry of Immigration and Asylum issued an announcement on the 17th that 116 refugees flew directly from Lesworth Island, Greece to Hanover, Germany, for resettlement on the same day.
This is the first time that Greece has arranged for refugees to fly directly from the island of the country to other EU countries.
The announcement said that the refugees came from Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, including 30 families with children.
According to the Athens-Macedonian news agency, this is the first time that Greece has arranged for refugees to fly directly from the island to other EU countries under the relocation project supported by EU funds and in cooperation with Greece and the International Organization for Migration.
Previously, refugees transferred from Greece to other EU countries left by flight from the capital Athens.
In his announcement, Nottis Mitarashi, the Greek Minister of Immigration and Asylum, said that the Greek government will continue to arrange about 10 direct flights from the country’s islands to Germany to transfer and resettle more refugees in the next two months.
Last September, the Moria refugee camp, Greece’s largest refugee camp on Lesbos Island, was seriously damaged by fire.
Since then, Greek and German leaders have reached an agreement on the resettlement of Greek refugees.
According to the agreement, Germany will receive about 1,553 refugees from Greece. Due to travel restrictions related to the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus epidemic, only 449 refugees have been successfully transferred and resettled.
According to the latest data from the Greek government, about 65,000 refugees and illegal immigrants are currently stranded in Greece, of which 14,000 live in refugee camps on five Aegean islands, including Lesbos.
