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Parliamentary question - E-004098/2016Parliamentary question
E-004098/2016

Humanitarian crisis in Greece

Question for written answer E-004098-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Ilhan Kyuchyuk (ALDE)

Ever since countries in Europe began building fences and closing borders, Greece has become the EU’s biggest refugee camp. The country is on the path to becoming the EU’s biggest open-air prison, in which a humanitarian crisis is taking place. In the unofficial border camp in Idomeni, migrants regularly clash with the Greek police. Clashes occur partly because the Greek authorities cannot meet the basic needs of the migrants and partly because they provide migrants with contradictory information regarding border reopening and procedures. The situation in the closed Reception and Identification Centres in Samos and Lesbos is also very complicated. Both places are overcrowded and unsanitary and single women and unaccompanied children live in unsafe conditions there because they are not separated from men. It is more than clear that economically fragile Greece cannot deal alone with the refugee crisis and ongoing humanitarian crisis on its territory.

1. What steps will the Commission take to improve living conditions for migrants in the Idomeni border camp and in the closed Reception and Identification Centres in Samos and Lesbos?

2. What measures will the Commission take to support the Greek authorities in dealing with the growing humanitarian crisis and in speeding up relocation and resettlement of migrants in other EU Member States?

3. How will the Commission safeguard single women and unaccompanied children?