At the same time that the European Union is seeking to increase the number of returns of illegal migrants to their countries of origin, the EU is also continuing to provide humanitarian aid to refugees outside the EU and in Greece. The European Commission emphasised this in its third progress report regarding the implementation of the European migration agenda, which will be presented to the European Council on 9 and 10 March (see EUROPE 11737).
The Commission particularly highlights an education project for child refugees and migrants in Greece, which it has been funding to the tune of €8.5 million. The Commission explained that this project had been put in place by UNICEF and helps to provide assistance to more than 6,000 refugee and migrant children “including unaccompanied minors”. Another project put in place by the IMO and co-funded by the Commission to the tune of €2.8 million has already enabled 2,500 refugee and migrant children to resume their education, explained the Commission on Friday 3 March. In this project, the Commission is co-financing school transport for children and distributing educational kits.
At the moment, UNICEF, the IMO, Amnesty International and several NGOs are criticising the detention regime advocated by the Commission for speeding up returns of illegal migrants to their own countries (see other article). Christos Stylianides, explained in a press release that, “Giving refugee children an education is one of our priorities with our EU support in Greece. Thousands of children are being given a chance for a better future. The European Commission is committed to working in close collaboration with the Greek authorities and humanitarian organisations to continue to improve the conditions of refugees and migrants in the country”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)