Migration: Greece wants to close largest refugee camps on islands

Greece wants to close the refugee camps on the so-called hotspot islands such as Lesbos, Chios and Samos. The camps were to be replaced by new facilities with capacity to accommodate around 5,000 people, the Greek government said Wednesday. The new facilities should therefore be closed warehouses. The first closed camp is to be built on Samos.

The camps on the islands are completely overcrowded. The inhuman states have long been in the criticism. Asylum seekers may not without permission on the mainland, so far, the camps were in itself but open, migrants could leave.

Since the summer, significantly more refugees arrive in Greece. Between July and October alone, around 35,000 people came across the sea - significantly more than in the previous months and more than since the end of the refugee crisis in 2016.

The new camps will house those migrants who have no prospect of asylum and are to be returned to their countries of origin. It should be about closed camps, which may not leave the migrants. All other refugees who have the prospect of asylum are to be taken to mainland Greece.

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