The European Commission, through its spokesperson Adalbert Jahnz, responsible for migration and home affairs, confirmed on Monday 16 March that the situation at the Greek-Turkish border had “stabilised” and that the number of attempts by migrants to reach Greece from Turkey had “returned” to levels prior to the crisis at the end of February.
Jahnz confirmed press reports, such as the one from the New York Times, that migrants who arrived at the border with Greece at the end of February after Ankara broke the EU-Turkey Declaration of March 2016 would gradually be ‘picked up’ by the Turkish authorities and brought back to Istanbul.
This crisis triggered diplomatic tensions between the two blocs and the holding of an exceptional meeting of Ministers of the Interior on 4 March (see EUROPE 12439/1) and of Foreign Affairs on 6 March (see EUROPE 12441/10).
Fire in Moria
While the situation was more stable at the border, local media reported the start of a fire on Monday 16 March in Moria, an overcrowded camp in Lesbos where a 6-year-old girl is reported to have died. The Commission and about ten Member States have volunteered in recent days to relieve the Greek camps and relocate vulnerable people to other Member States. The Greek government has been waiting for this assistance since September 2019. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)