Germany accepts migrants from Greece
Germany accepts migrants from Greece
By Michael Lord 8 April 2020
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The German government has agreed to accept 50 unaccompanied “children and youths” from the migrant camps on the Greek islands, according to official sources.
It was said that this is a “first step” toward dealing with the potential for a coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak within the migrant camps on the islands, as reported by Reuters. While no cases have been reported there yet, it is believed that the poor sanitary conditions and an environment in which it is difficult to practice the recommended social distancing guidelines make the camps particularly vulnerable.
The first cases of the virus were detected in a camp on the Greek mainland last week, as previously reported by Voice of Europe, which led the authorities to quarantine it. The Greek authorities have described the situation on their islands as a “ticking time bomb.”
Germany’s Ministry of the Interior announced that they would begin moving the migrants to Germany next week. The migrants will be held in quarantine for two weeks as a precaution before being distributed across various German states.
The Greek islands were already home to tens of thousands of migrants, as Greece is one of the main entry points into Europe for those coming from the Middle East who are hoping to reach the wealthier Western European countries, where government-provided resources for them are plentiful. The numbers have gone up even further since Turkey announced that they would no longer prevent migrants from crossing their territory at the end of February, which led to thousands of migrants storming the Turkish-Greek border in an attempt to break through the border fence — often assisted by the Turkish police.
Greece has requested EU assistance to deal with the potential for outbreak in the migrant camps. Germany’s offer is part of that.
https://voiceofeurope.com/2020/04/ge...gnCTHtWNSohbqE
