Greece

Overview

The majority of those returned to Turkey are Pakistani nationals (37 percent of total). Syrians constitute 18 percent of the total number of those returned, and are followed by Algerians, Afghans and Iraqis.

In total, 359 Syrians have been returned to Turkey to date. 41 of them have been returned on the basis that their asylum claims were found inadmissible at 2nd instance.

Of all those returned, 44 percent did not express a will to apply for asylum or withdrew their will to apply for asylum or withdrew their asylum claims in Greece.

Arrivals

This week, 957 people arrived on the Aegean islands, a decrease from last week’s 3,281 arrivals but an increase from last year’s 357 arrivals during the same period.

The average daily arrivals this week equalled 137, compared to 469 in the previous week.

Population on the Islands

Some 38,800 refugees and migrants reside on the Aegean islands. The majority of the population on the Aegean islands are from Afghanistan (43%), Syria (21%) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (6%).

On December 3rd, CBM, Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International (HI), and the International Disability Alliance (IDA) mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities by releasing a collection of 39 examples of field practices inclusive of persons with disabilities in humanitarian context and disaster risk reduction (DRR), from 20 countries of intervention.

As migration is increasingly treated as a security matter rather than a humanitarian concern, migrants and those trying to help them are being regarded as criminals. Aid groups say the lives of migrants — and the trust needed to help them — are at stake.

On the French–Italian border last year, a volunteer medical practitioner rescued a pregnant Nigerian woman struggling along a snowy Alpine path and took her to the nearest hospital. He was investigated by French police for assisting illegal entry.

UNHCR is expanding cash-based assistance so that the millions of people that it serves can meet their needs in dignity, are protected and can become more resilient.

Taking a bank card to a cash machine in Beirut, Syrian widow Manar Al Sayer taps in a PIN and withdraws a few Lebanese pounds.

Cash in hand, she can now prioritize her monthly spending for herself and her three children, Aseel, six, Abdullah, nine, and Osaima 12.

“I allocate this cash assistance so that my children can attend the morning shift at school,” she explains.

Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis was interviewed on OPEN TV this morning, on “7 O’clock Greek Time,” by journalists Akis Pavlopoulos and Dora Koutrokoi.

Mr. Varvitsiotis referred to the increased migration flows in Greece and presented the government’s plan for decongesting the islands.

Terre des Hommes (TDH) believes the authorities’ new plans for refugees and migrants will put at risk the mental health and well-being of thousands of children and young people.

Yesterday, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, visited the Reception and Identification Centre in Moria – Lesvos to witness first-hand the human cost of flawed migration policies which have stranded over 39,000 people in overcrowded, dangerous refugee camps.

Reacting to the High Commissioner’s visit Marion Bouchetel, Advocacy Officer for Oxfam in Greece, said:

GENEVA (28 November 2019) – The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention will carry out an official visit to Greece, from 2 to 13 December 2019, to assess the country's situation regarding deprivation of liberty.

The delegation – comprising of three members of the group, José Antonio Guevara Bermúdez, Leigh Toomey and Sètondji Roland Adjovi – will meet Government officials, civil society groups and other relevant stakeholders.

Filippo Grandi bears witness to conditions at the Moria centre on Lesvos and calls on European states to help Greece address situation

By Josie Le Blond in Lesvos, Greece

Ibrahim Mohamed and his family fled Syria earlier this year when shelling destroyed their house. They sought safety in Europe but now live outside an overcrowded reception and identification centre at Moria, on the Greek island of Lesvos.

From one intolerable situation, they have found another.

Statement by Refugees International’s Senior Advocate for Women and Girls Devon Cone on the current situation of unaccompanied minors in Greece and the Greek Prime Minister’s announcement of the new “No Child Alone” program:

by Dr Christos Christou, International President, Médecins Sans Frontières

I have just come back from the Greek islands, and I was shocked by what I saw and by the accounts I heard from my colleagues on the ground.

Swiss Humanitarian Aid has launched two aid operations to alleviate the plight of refugees in Greece. Some 600 family tents and other winter equipment have been dispatched to Lesbos Island. Last week, 500 beds from the inventory of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) were transported to Greece by lorry.

Last week, demonstration events were reported in the Balkans, Southeastern Europe and Eastern Europe over a wide range of local and national issues. Notable developments were: protests and the nomination of a new head of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina; student and anarchist demonstrations and violence in Greece; peaceful parliamentary elections in Belarus; and a drop in the fighting in the Donbass region of Ukraine.

Following the 6.3 magnitude earthquake and 3 aftershocks that hit Albania on 26 November, the EU Civil protection Mechanism was activated at the request of the Albanian authorities.