European Commission backs improving migrant reception conditions in Greece

The Greek authorities will receive €31.1 million to support the provisional services offered to migrants, including healthcare, interpretation, and food, and to improve the infrastructure of the Reception and Identification Centre of Fylakio in the Evros region in Northern Greece.

The extra funding will also contribute to the creation of additional accommodation spaces within existing and new sites in mainland Greece. A further €6.4 million has been awarded to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to improve reception conditions and to provide site management support to selected sites on the mainland.

"The Commission is doing everything in its power to support all Member States facing migratory pressures - whether that is in the Eastern, Central or Western Mediterranean. Migration is a European challenge and we need a European solution, where no Member State is left alone. Greece has been on the frontline since 2015 and while the situation has greatly improved since the EU-Turkey Statement, we continue to assist the country with the challenges it is still facing. The Commission's political, operational and financial support for Greece remains tangible and uninterrupted," said Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship.

It should be mentioned that today's funding decision comes on top of more than €1.6 billion of funding support awarded by the Commission since 2015 to address migration challenges in Greece. Under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Internal Security Fund (ISF), Greece has been awarded €456.5 million in emergency funding, in addition to €561 million already awarded under these funds for the Greek national programme 2014-2020.