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UNHCR chief praises Greece for contribution to address refugee crisis

Xinhua, August 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Wednesday praised Greece for its contribution to deal with the refugee crisis.

Grandi made the remarks during talks with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

The meetings were held during Grandi's three-day visit to Greece to assess the humanitarian needs of migrants and refugees hosted in the country.

"Greece has been an example of solidarity, in a continent and a world that has been closed and hostile to refugees in many ways," the UNHCR chief said.

Grandi thanked the Greek people and authorities, highlighting the role of the port administration, the police, the municipalities and the volunteers for offering help to the refugees and migrants who have reached the Greek shores.

On his part, Pavlopoulos stressed that with the help of the United Nations, Greece completed the registration procedure of the refugees and migrants in Greece.

"We send a strong message to some of the EU(European Union) and non-EU countries, that justify unacceptable tactics," he said.

Greek Prime Minister Tsipras stated that the UN has a critical role and underlined that cooperation between the Greek government and the UNHCR will improve and become more effective.

For Tsipras, "a permanent solution is necessary not just for the refugee crisis, but to end the war in Syria."

Following his meetings with the Greek officials, Grandi will visit refugee facilities in Athens and other areas to meet with asylum seekers and representatives of local authorities, volunteers and other partners involved in managing the refugee flows.

Despite a deal between the EU and Turkey in March 2016, the arrivals on Aegean islands continue. A total of 1,138 migrants and refugees landed on Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros over the past 10 days, bringing the total number of arrivals to 11,343 since March.

According to the government's data, there are currently 54,000 refugees and migrants in Greece.

After the completion of the pre-registration procedure, Greek authorities pre-registered 27,592 refugees and migrants for asylum in a period of two months. Authorities also recorded 1,225 unaccompanied children.

According to the data, of the total number of people pre-registered from June 6 to July 30, 57 percent are males, 43 percent are females and 46 percent are children.

Regarding Greece's relocation program, Deputy Minister for Migration Policy Yiannis Mouzalas said during a press conference this week that 7,751 people are ready to be sent to other countries while 2,000 refugees and migrants have applied to the voluntary repatriation.

He also said the ministry is preparing a plan to transfer the 11,000 people staying on Greek islands to the mainland. Enditem