Mr.

Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR

Chairman
Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
European Parliament

Dear Chairman,

Thank you for your invitation to participate at the LIBE meeting of April
2nd. Please find attached responses to points raised by Committee
Members.

COVID 19 Update

Regarding the current situation of the COVID 19 & the migration crises,
please note that we have in Greece, since the beginning of the year 202
confirmed cases in total and no casualties, as follows:

• 150 in Kranidi Hotel – Managed by the International Organization

of Migration (IOM)
• 33 in Ritsona Camp – Managed by IOM
• 12 in Malakasa Camp– Managed by IOM
• 7 cases in other locations.

We have no confirmed cases in the RICs in the Islands, managed by the

Ministry of Migration & Asylum. We have medical staff on the ground, and
we test anyone that has any relevant symptom.

Multi-Purpose RICs

We aim to replace all current camps in the Islands with new Multi-Purpose
RICs, which will substantially improve conditions and safety provisions.
Funding for these camps has now become available and we are finalizing
plans in order to proceed as soon as possible.

We are working with local authorities to ensure support for this plan,
which clearly includes the closure of existing camps and the substantial
reduction of the number of asylum seekers currently in the islands.
Overall Situation οn the Islands

It is true that the Joint EU / Turkey Statement, while helped reduce flow
in 2016, it led to overcrowding in the islands. It is paramount that the
geographical restrictions are lifted so we do not conclude all asylum
applications in the islands to be able to return those not entitled to
international protection.

Moreover, we need to ensure that the EU, as it reviews the Regulation on

Migration it substantially improves solidarity to front line Member States
in a way that we all share the impact of the migration crisis in a
proportional and mandatory way.

I remain at your disposal, should you require any additional information

or clarifications.

Yours sincerely,

Notis Mitarachi