On Saturday, two new denied refugee camps were opened in the southeastern Aegean islands of Leros and Kos, in honor of which the Vice President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, declared a “historic day”.
“The new state-of-the-art multipurpose reception and identification centers that we opened today in Leros and Kos are further tangible proof of undivided European solidarity with Greece,” Schinas said, adding that this marks the implementation of a decision a year ago, in November 2020, when The European Commission has agreed to finance the construction of new centers for migrants on the islands that are the external borders of the European Union.
The EU has allocated 276 million euros for the construction of new camps in Leros, Lesvos, Kos, Chios and Samos, which accept most migrants arriving by sea from neighboring Turkey.
For his part, Minister of Migration Notis Mitarakis said that the page was turned. “Images like those on the islands during 2015-19 are definitely from the past,” he said.
The peculiarity of these camps is that they will accommodate persons who have been denied refugee status. Given the special status of the camp, the so-called. “closed type reception center”, it is actually a concentration camp.
Greece has been forced to introduce a similar measure since Turkey refused to accept back those denied refugee status.
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