The German government announced Tuesday evening that it is ready to welcome 50 minors currently in refugee camps on the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios. "The transfer could, if possible, start next week , " the interior ministry said in a statement.
"After their arrival, children and adolescents will initially be quarantined for two weeks" due to the restrictive measures linked to the pandemic of the new coronavirus, before being "distributed in different regions" , said the German ministry. The decision is to be ratified on Wednesday in the Council of Ministers.
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Luxembourg had announced earlier that it would host 12 miners for its part. In addition to Germany and Luxembourg, France, Portugal, Finland, Lithuania, Croatia and Ireland have applied for this reception, which concerns a total of 1,600 unaccompanied minors from refugee camps on the Greek islands. .
The initiative was launched in early March by the European Commission to relieve Greece. It coordinates it with all the actors involved: in addition to the candidate member states and Greece, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
These minors are children who, due to illness urgently need care, or unaccompanied young people under the age of 14, mostly girls, said Berlin in March, before the coronavirus pandemic does not fall completely on Europe.