Debate: Urgent humanitarian situation on Greek Islands, especially of children - ensuring protection, relocation and family reunification
Date: WEDNESDAY, 29 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Ylva Johansson
Language: EN

Most of them are living under conditions that are totally unacceptable. Many of them are children. I can only imagine being a mother in these hot spots, with children, being responsible for children, and living in a tent when it’s cold, there’s not enough food, with terrible conditions in many aspects, and being responsible for your own children and not being able to actually take responsibility as a mother. Or being a mother in a totally other country knowing that your teenager, your teenage boy, is alone there as unaccompanied minor.  These conditions are not acceptable, this we can’t stand having in the European Union in 2020. I am probably not the only one who keeps awake at night thinking about these people and the conditions they are living under. But, of course, nobody will be helped by me being awake at night. I’m the Commissioner and I am of course responsible for doing things, and you who are here tonight will probably ask me, quite rightly, what is the Commission doing and what more can we do? The Commission is supporting the Greek authorities with finding shelter for unaccompanied minors on the mainland. We will continue to support Greece and relocate people from the islands to new centres – new centres that will meet the minimum European standards for humanitarian intervention. We support the Greek authorities with our European funds. To mention just a few: EUR 50 million from the asylum migration and integration fund that supports up to 2 000 places in shelter for unaccompanied minors on the mainland; EUR 4.2 million for the IOM to create additional safe zones for unaccompanied minors on all the Greek islands; funds for a specific facility for vulnerable applicants called Kara Tepe on Lesbos; specific facilities also exist on Kos and Leros. We will continue to support Greece with our funds. I welcome the appointment that the Greek Government has done to appoint a national coordinator for unaccompanied minors. I think that the Greek Government shows the right emphasis on this very difficult situation, and I welcome that the Greek Government are committed to improve the living conditions for migrants, bringing them to new centres, reforming the asylum system and also starting returning those that are not eligible for international protection. We also think that additional incentives for the employment of doctors in the reception centres and identification centres is important. It is of great urgency to release unaccompanied minors from protective custody and transfer them to safe zones – zones that are suitable for long—term accommodation. Is this enough? Apparently not. We need to do more. Yesterday I met with the newly—appointed Greek Migration Minister, Notis Mitarakis. We discussed measures as to how we can help Greece more and what also the Greek Government and the Greek authorities are planning. Yesterday also, the European Asylum Support Office signed an agreement with Greece to double the staff in Greece from EASO.  The Commission will continue to show solidarity with Greece. This includes financial support of over EUR 2.2 billion. But the Commission alone cannot do everything. We also need the support from the Member States. We are lacking a common European asylum and migration system. In lack of that, we need voluntary support from other Member States. Greece has asked for the relocation of unaccompanied minors and I strongly support this. I support all solidarity efforts between Member States, especially when it comes to children. I call on Member States to continue to help Greece, to continue voluntary relocations and we, the Commission, will do the financial support. We will continue to work closely with the Greek authorities to help facilitate all voluntary solidarity efforts by other Member States.  I call on Member States to speed up the necessary procedures to reunify children with their families as soon as possible. Honourable Members, we talk about migration policy and the migration situation in Europe. It’s clear that even though we can see an increase of migrants arriving in Greece and especially at the Greek islands the overall situation is not a crisis. We have seen fewer irregular arrivals in the European Union than for many years. We are not in crisis; we do not have a migration crisis in Europe. But there are at least 40 000 individuals on the Greek islands and they are in crisis.  We need to support them and the most effective thing that we must do is to find a common solution that can unite Member States and Parliament in a new pact for migration and asylum. Every week, every month that we are not able to find this new common policy means these people paying too high a price.