Two hundred and forty-nine refugee children will be relocated to Germany, the country’s interior minister Horst Seehofer announced on Wednesday, noting that most of the minors are sick or the siblings of migrants that are already in Germany.
"As the rates of coronavirus are currently at this low level, we decided as the Interior Ministry… to take in more children from Greece,” Seehofer said, noting that Germany had already received 47 refugee children in April.
The minister said that last week, some of his associates visited Greece last week to arrange the transfer of the children.
Six of the youngsters who were too sick to travel last week will be transferred on a subsequent trip, he said.
“I always said that my migration policy includes order but also humanity,” the German minister said.
Tens of thousands of refugees and migrants, including thousands of unaccompanied children, are living in squalid conditions in overcrowded camps on several Greek islands after arriving from the nearby Turkish coast. Many more are housed in camps, apartments and other shelters across the mainland.
The government continues to reach out to other EU countries to help share the burden.
