December 9, 2016 —  The European Commission’s recommendation yesterday that other EU countries should be able to resume certain Dublin transfers to Greece is entirely out of step with what is urgently needed on the ground.

The International Rescue Committee is gravely concerned for the lives and wellbeing of some of the most vulnerable refugees, including young children and the elderly, who are stranded in Greece. Amid freezing temperatures, many are forced to endure winter in facilities that are ill-equipped to protect them from the winter elements for the coming months. 

Imogen Sudbery, Head of the International Rescue Committee’s Brussels office said:

“It is absurd that rather than stepping up to meet the pledges they have already made to relocate people from Greece, EU countries are actively seeking to send more refugees to Greece.

The responsibility for this response cannot continue to be levelled at Greece. It’s the EU’s duty to find holistic and practical solutions that work for all member states, but, most crucially, for refugees.

Border closures blocking onward travel, dangerous overcrowding and lack of winter preparation in some of the sites on the mainland, and finally, a lack of timely options to seek refuge in other EU member states has led to thousands of refugees staying in sites, designed for temporary stay, for nine months.

No-one should be required to stay in tents or in industrial warehouses in winter, in Europe.

European countries should be aiming to help Greece meet the humanitarian needs it is struggling to provide for, not shirking their own responsibilities to offer protection to the people who need it.”

The IRC is urgently calling for substandard and unsafe sites on mainland Greece to be closed immediately, and refugees currently residing in them to be moved to urban housing or other sites which are better prepared for the freezing temperatures.

Overcrowding in facilities on the islands must be eased immediately with the voluntarily move of refugees to the mainland. Currently there are over 16 000 people in sites that collectively have a capacity for 7 450, primarily for the registration process under the EU Turkey deal.

For more information and interviews please contact IRC Media officer Frankie Parrish on +44 (0)20 7692 0413 or Frankie.Parrish@rescue.org