The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Greece, Philippe Leclerc, has said that the EU Commission will continue to finance the Estia housing programme placing asylum seekers in apartments in 2019.
According to the UNHCR weekly report, the Estia programme currently offers 23,374 hospitality places in apartments, buildings and hotels throughout Greece, in which 19,331 refugees and asylum seekers have been given places. The programme has seven participating NGOs and a number of municipalities.
Leclerc made the comments during an interview on Monday with news service ANA where he claimed there were “guarantees” from the EU that funding will continue for Greece’s asylum seeker programme.
Leclerc went on to suggest that it would be better after 2019 if more and more of the programme was fully implemented by the state budget and through agreements with municipalities, while his organisation, the UNHCR will retain a "more supervisory role".
