Refugee crisis: Greece to declare a state of emergency
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
The Greek government has acknowledged that it considers declaring a state of emergency to deal with the refugee crisis and that it has already submitted to the European Union a contingency plan.
This was revealed by Minister of Migration Policy, Yannis Mouzalason Sunday during an interview with Mega TV channel.
“Unfortunately, the plan must be implemented”, said Mouzalas who added that Greece has worked out and submitted details in terms of the funds, personnel and humanitarian assistance required for its implementation.
The minister admitted that currently there are about 22,000 migrants and refugees stranded in Greece.
“Within the next month we estimate that there will be between 50,000-70,000 people stranded,” he added.
Mouzalas said he expected the influx of refugees and migrants to slow when the information of closed borders reached Turkey, where millions of people fleeing the war in Syria have taken refuge.
“I believe that the influx will diminish when the news that the Idomeni border crossing is closed will be propagated. We are preparing an information campaign which will be broadcast in Turkey”, the Migration Minister said.
