The closed and controlled refugee facility at Zervos on the island of Samos will be ready in a few months, and be occupied by migrants currently at the open asylum-seekers' facility in Vathy, the capital, will will shut down, Migration & Asylum Minister Notis Mitarakis said on Samos on Tuesday.
"In Greece we currently have 100,000 migrants housed in accommodation facilities, apartments or hotels. It is now 1 pct of the population, so it is likely that there will be coronavirus cases among migrants residing in these structures as well," Migration and Asylum Minister Notis Mitarakis said in an interview with public broadcaster ERT on Thursday, referring to the additional cases identified within the Ritsona refugee and asylum-seekers' camp.
European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson and Migration and Asylum Minister Notis Mitarakis, in joint statements after their meeting in Athens on Thursday, announced the creation of a temporary mechanism for the voluntary return of 5,000 migrants from the Greek islands to their countries of origin, which will be funded by the European Commission.