At midday today, the last flight carrying refugees from Greece arrived in Hanover with 103 people on board. Germany has now admitted a total of 2,765 refugees from Greece since April 2020, thereby making good on its commitment.

Federal Minister Seehofer: "We made a commitment to admit 2,750 women, children and men from the Greek islands, and we have kept our word. I hope that the other EU countries honour their commitments soon. This is important for the credibility of European cooperation. From our point of view, Europe’s task is by no means complete. Conditions for people seeking protection must meet minimum common standards throughout the EU. Local assistance is still needed and indeed has been pledged."

Today’s flight had on board 21 families comprising 48 adults and 55 minors. All of them had been identified by the Greek authorities as persons entitled to protection. These families will be accommodated in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein.

Following agreement within the Federal Government and a decision by the coalition committee in March 2020, Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer decided at that time to admit 53 unaccompanied minors as well as 243 children needing medical care and their immediate families from Greece, as part of a European aid effort. The operation to bring those children and their families to Germany was completed in December 2020.

The Federal Government later agreed to admit two more groups of refugees:

• After the fires in the camp on the island of Lesvos, Germany agreed to admit 150 unaccompanied minors.
• In addition to these unaccompanied minors, Germany decided to admit another 1,553 family members from the Greek islands who had been identified by the Greek authorities as persons entitled to protection.

 

The refugees are being allocated to the various federal states based on a plan developed by the Federal Government together with the governments of all 16 federal states. This plan also takes into account criteria such as family ties and specific medical needs.

The Federal Government has always shown solidarity with heavily burdened member states. It is in constant contact with Greece and the European Commission to help the Greek government deal with the migrant situation and improve conditions for migrants there.

Background:
Germany agreed to admit 2,750 people and has now admitted more than half of the people from Greece who were to be admitted under the coordination of the European Commission. No further admissions from Greece are currently planned.

Since spring 2020, 16 European countries have pledged to admit from Greece more than 5,200 unaccompanied minors, other asylum seekers or persons entitled to protection. On 19 April 2021, despite all the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a total of 3,658 people were brought to EU member states willing to admit them, as well as to Norway and Switzerland. And Germany is not alone in having reached its target number of admissions from Greece. Luxembourg and Switzerland have also fulfilled their pledge (20 people each), as has the Netherlands (100 people).

For several years, Germany has assisted the Greek government in dealing with the migrant situation and improving conditions for migrants in Greece. This support will continue in future. It is currently focused on improving the situation at the temporary reception centre of Mavrovouni, and on setting up a new reception centre on Lesvos under a joint plan (the first of its kind) by the EU and the Greek government. It is in the interest of everyone in the European Union that reception conditions in all EU member states meet European standards.

Finally, for the current year 2021, the Federal Government has declared it is ready to admit up to 6,800 people from Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Kenya and Libya under the resettlement programme – one of its humanitarian admission programmes.