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First EU plane carrying Eritrean refugees to take off Friday

Xinhua, October 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

The first plane bringing Eritrean refugees to Sweden is to take off on Friday from Italy, said European migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos on Thursday in Luxembourg.

"This relocation has a symbolic and a substantial character. Symbolic as it's the beginning, a new start for what we are doing in this field, and substantial because it is a real tangible result of what we have started doing," he said.

Later Friday afternoon, Avramopoulos will go to Greece to ensure that people can "see a similar development from Greece soon."

He said the refugees being taken to Sweden had gone through a screening process which included registration, fingerprinting, and identification.

"The first hotspot system in Italy is operational already in Lampedusa," he said, adding that the EU side would continue to work closely with the Italian authorities to deploy support teams in other hotspot areas in South Italy.

Avramopoulos noted that around 10 joint return flights were being organized in October, saying that the effective return of those who had no right to stay was the other side of the refugee crisis. Endit