One hundred and one refugees, including 61 children and 40 adults, arrived at the airport in Hanover this morning from the Greek islands.

After fires destroyed the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, the Federal Government decided to take in a total of 1,553 persons in family groups from the Greek islands whom the Greek government has already found to be in need of protection. The first 26 of these families arrived in Germany today, bringing the number of refugees flown from Greece to Germany to 905 so far this year.

The families will initially be housed in a reception centre in Friedland, Lower Saxony. From there they will be relocated to seven federal states (Baden-Württemberg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland) based on a plan developed by the Federal Government together with the governments of all 16 federal states. This plan takes into account criteria such as family ties and specific medical needs.

Following agreement within the Federal Government and a decision by the coalition committee at its meeting on 8 March 2020, Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer had already decided to admit 243 children needing medical care and their immediate families from refugee camps in Greece, as part of a European aid effort in which 11 EU member states (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia) as well as Norway and Serbia are taking part.

After the Moria fires, the Federal Government also decided to take in some of the 400 unaccompanied minors whom the Greek government had moved to mainland Greece.  Germany will accept up to 150 of these unaccompanied minors.