First families of refugees relocated to Latvia
Xinhua, February 6, 2016 Adjust font size:
The first two families of refugees have been relocated to Latvia under an EU-wide agreement, Interior Ministry state secretary Ilze Petersone-Godmane said on Latvian Television.
The six asylum seekers in need of international protection were flown to Latvia from Greece late Friday, Feb. 5.
The two families that have arrived in Latvia are from Syria and Eritrea. Two of the six people are children of preschool age. Upon their arrival, the refugees were taken to an asylum center in Mucenieki, outside Riga.
Petersone-Godmane said at a press briefing on Saturday that the adult asylum seekers have professional education and one of the men speaks English. In her words, the above asylum seekers had said that they wanted to settle down in Latvia, integrate with its society and learn the language.
Latvia has expressed readiness to admit 230 asylum seekers on a voluntary basis and to take in 281 more migrants that have to be relocated from Italy and Greece. Over the next couple of years, Latvia intends to admit 531 of the roughly 120,000 migrants currently living in asylum centers in Greece and Italy. Enditem