Greece has announced that new hotspots for asylum seekers on the islands of Lesbos and Chios are set to open in February and April of next year. Greek authorities are also expanding a hotspot near the Evros river on Greece's land border with Turkey.
Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has lashed out at Greek authorities repeatedly in recent days, accusing the country of the deliberate mistreatment of migrants. Soylu has slammed Greece for committing acts of gross negligence amounting to manslaughter on at least two recent occasions.
The number of migrants and refugees living on the Greek Islands was 79% lower in December 2021 compared to a year before, according to the Greek government. Meanwhile, the migrant and refugee population in all of Greece fell by 49%.
Local residents of Lesbos and Chios have prevented a ship carrying building materials and machinery for the construction of migrant camps from docking. The Greek government plans to build "Closed and Controlled Access Centers" on both islands.
Greece has announced that 7,200 migrants stuck in temporary accommodation since the blaze at the Moria camp in September will be moved to permanent accommodation by September 2021. The European Commission will support the Greek government with the building project.
Four people have reportedly tested positive for coronavirus in the Vial refugee camp on Chios, bringing the total number of infections to five. An earlier case was detected last week.
A fire destroyed parts of one of Greece's largest migrant camps on the Aegean island of Chios. On Saturday a blaze tore through Vial camp destroying some accommodation and administrative facilities and leaving a few hundred homeless.
Germany is planning to take in up to 500 minors from the Greek islands in the next few weeks; starting with 50 unaccompanied children next week. Critics say this is too little, too late, given that tens of thousands of migrants and refugees remain in the overcrowded camps.
The civil liberties commission of the European Parliament has called on the EU to take immediate action to prevent an outbreak of Covid-19 among refugees and migrants in the overcrowded camps on the Greek islands.
Cruises across Europe have been suspended because of the coronavirus emergency. Migrant sea rescue organization Sea-Watch wants the empty cruise ships to be used to evacuate migrants from the Greek islands.
Migrants camps on the Greek islands have been put on lockdown for at least two weeks to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. No volunteers will be allowed in the camps, and school classes for migrant children have been suspended.
Several Greek islands, including Lesbos, have launched a labor stoppage following "extremely aggressive" clashes between police and anti-refugee protesters. Locals continue to call for an end to migrant camps.