On 24 July 2020, the Commission has made €17 million available to support the implementation of the “Voluntary Relocation from Greece” project, which started in April and should be completed by the end of October of this year. The funding is awarded to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), in partnership with the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
The European Asylum Support Office (EASO), will also provide operational support.
The Asylum Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) will support the voluntary relocation of up to 3,000 unaccompanied children, adults and families from Greece to France, Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Slovenia and Norway. Funding is specifically allocated to:
- Formalities concerning unaccompanied children such as best interest and age assessments, and the provision for legal representatives;
- Pre-departure transfers;
- Accommodation and medical services;
- Flights to the Member States of relocation.
The relocation is targeting persons who applied for international protection with priority given to the vulnerable and those suffering from severe medical conditions.
Background
The Commission has now made more than €2,61 billion of funding available to Greece for migration management, of which more than nearly €1, 34 billion is emergency financial support. (See the factsheets for more information).
As of mid-June, there were over 4,800 unaccompanied children in Greece. As part of the Action Plan for immediate measures to support Greece, the Commission proposed to relocate up to 1,600 children. Member States have now pledged up to 2,000 places.
The first group of 12 unaccompanied children was relocated from Greece to Luxembourg on 15 April. On 17 June, 8 unaccompanied children were relocated to Ireland, following a bilateral agreement that predates the scheme. 6 unaccompanied children who could not be relocated to Germany in April as they were not fit for travel at the time were transferred to Germany on 26 June.
On 7 and 8 July, 49 unaccompanied children were relocated from Greece to Portugal and Finland.
More information
- Action Plan for immediate measures to support Greece
- Asylum Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF)
- European Agenda on Migration – Factsheets
- Press release: Migration: Commission takes action to find solutions for unaccompanied migrant children on Greek islands, 6 March 2020
- Press release: Migration: First unaccompanied children relocated from Greece to Luxembourg, 15 April 2020
- Press release: Migration: Relocation of unaccompanied children from Greece to Portugal and Finland
Details
- Publication date
- 23 July 2020