The European Commission has awarded €12.7 million in emergency funding to Greece to support the establishment of reception facilities on the Greek mainland. The money comes from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and will be used to set up at least 8,000 new reception places.
Commissioner Avramopoulos said “The award of €12,7 million to set up new reception facilities is another sign of the EU’s solidarity and strong support to Greece in its efforts to manage the unprecedented migratory flows into the country. It will help Greece to reach the objective of increasing its reception capacity to 50,000 places, as agreed at the Western Balkans Leaders’ Meeting of 25 October 2015.”
The emergency funding will be used to finance the procurement and installation of portable prefabricated houses to offer temporary accommodation for third-country nationals in the Attica and Central Macedonia regions. This award will complement funding provided under Greece’s National Programme for AMIF, which covers the construction costs for the preparation of the sites and the facilities’ operating costs. In 2015, the Commission awarded €146 million in emergency assistance to Greece, either directly to the Greek authorities or through international organisations such as the IOM and the UNHCR
