Urgent Action Needed to Prevent Humanitarian Crisis in Greece

EU Migration and Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos warned that Greece may be facing a humanitarian crisis unless urgent action is taken by all sides involved.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Greek government drafted a plan of emergency action to control the number of migrants and refugees, Migration Policy Alternate Minister Ioannis Mouzalas said earlier in the day, expressing hope that the European Union would "move faster" toward the implementation of measures to tackle migration.

"There is no point in playing the blame game any more. We simply have to do everything possible to control the situation. Time is no longer on our side," Avramopoulos told Kathimerini’s Sunday edition in an interview.

The commissioner called for the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement on curbing the migrant influx and urged EU states to fulfill their commitment to take in asylum seekers.

Around 25,000 migrants and refugees have found themselves stranded in Greece over the weekend as neighboring countries decided to close their borders.

The European Commission is working on a set of measures to be introduced in case a humanitarian crisis in Greece or other states along the Balkan migrant route occurs, a senior European official told to Kathimerini on condition of anonymity. The measures include funding to establish a refugee camp along with food and accommodation vouchers for refugees.