Brussels, 11/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - Greece is preparing to welcome up to 20,000 Syrian refugees, the minister for public order announced in a press release quoted by AFP on Thursday 11 October, and this is as part of the United Nations charter for welcoming refugees. According to one source, this subject of welcoming Syrian refugees could be discussed by EU home affairs ministers in Luxembourg at the end of the month, but “there is no definite plan at the current time”. The source was surprised by Athens' commitment, the country - already condemned by the Court in Strasbourg - being known to have great problems in supporting migrants and asylum seekers and lacking welcome centres.
The welcome plan, named Ioni (from the name of the first colony of ancient Greece in Syria), provides for the welcome of refugees in special centres on the Greek islands of Crete and Rhodes in the Aegean Sea, according to the ministry. “In the immediate term, Greece - a member of the European Union - considers support to the neighbouring countries of Syria a priority, especially Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, which are currently doing the crucial work of supporting the refugees”, said the spokesperson for the Greek minister of foreign affairs, Grigoris Delavekouras. The spokesperson said that the modalities of the assistance - particularly financial assistance - would be discussed at European level. “There is also a discussion on the welcome capacities of each EU country but we are not yet there”, he said during a press meeting. (SP/transl.fl)