Dutch support sails in for Greek migration crisis

Greece’s Alternate Minister of Citizen Protection, George Koumoutsakos met with the Dutch Minister of Migration, Ankie Broekers-Knol in Athens on Thursday to discuss way on resolving the migration crisis unfolding in Greece.

The Dutch government said Broekers-Knol has committed to send experts in the most severely afflicted areas in Greece, "although the specific number has not yet been decided," and in response to a request by the Greek government some 30,000 blankets will be sent to asylum seekers at Greek islands on November 17.

During their meeting, the ministers did not discuss the possible of any relocation programme of asylum seekers to the Netherlands, and as Ankie Broekers-Knol said "we have stated that we are willing to work towards a structural solution in the EU, so as long as there is no such solution, we do not want to be part of an ad-hoc solution."

Both ministers committed to strengthening Greek-Dutch co-operation in matters of migration asylym, including where information technology systems (IT) is involved, as well as in planning and distributing humanitarian aid.