13.12.2017: Good news! Last week the Greek government pledged to transfer 5,000 asylum seekers trapped on Greece’s islands, living in dangerous, overcrowded conditions, to mainland Greece by December 15. Currently, more than 1,500 people have already been transferred.
This decision came from the top – Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Which means we owe a huge thank you to everyone who reached out to him through our campaign, calling on him to protect these asylum seekers.
This is a major positive step, but there is more yet to do. Another 10,000 plus asylum seekers will remain trapped on the islands – some forced to sleep in summer tents or on the ground – because Greece, together with other EU countries, have a policy in place to prevent these people from leaving the islands and to try to return them to Turkey. Continue reading “HRW: Call to Greece #Opentheislands”