Fifty unaccompanied refugee children will be relocated to Portugal and Finland, in the coming days.
According to Greece’s Migration Ministry, Alternate Minister for Migration and Asylum Giorgos Koumoutsakos on Saturday spoke with the Ambassador of Portugal to Greece Helena Paiva and with the Ambassador of Finland to Greece Juha Pyykkö, on the finalisation of the programmed flights.
Specifically, 25 children will leave on Tuesday for Portugal and the same number of children will leave for Finland on Wednesday.
Portugal has stated its intention to receive 500 unaccompanied children from Greece while Finland is planning to receive a total of 100 unaccompanied children and adults over 30 for the reunification of families.
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.
