#Migration - Commission supports improving reception conditions in #Greece with extra €37.5 million

The European Commission has awarded an additional €37.5 million in emergency assistance under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) to improve reception conditions for migrants in Greece. The Greek authorities will receive €31.1 million to support the provisional services offered to migrants, including: health care, interpretation and food, and to improve the infrastructure of the Reception and Identification Centre of Fylakio in the Evros region in northern Greece.

The extra funding will also contribute to the creation of additional accommodation spaces within existing and new sites in mainland Greece. A further €6.4m has been awarded to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to improve reception conditions and to provide site management support to selected sites on the mainland.

Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said: "The Commission is doing everything in its power to support all member states facing migratory pressures – whether that is in the Eastern, Central or Western Mediterranean. Migration is a European challenge and we need a European solution, where no member state is left alone. Greece has been on the frontline since 2015 and while the situation has greatly improved since the EU-Turkey Statement, we continue to assist the country with the challenges it is still facing. The Commission's political, operational and financial support for Greece remains tangible and uninterrupted."

The funding decision comes on top of more than €1.6 billion of funding support awarded by the Commission since 2015 to address migration challenges in Greece. Under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Internal Security Fund (ISF), Greece has been awarded €456.5 million in emergency funding, in addition to €561m already awarded under these funds for the Greek national programme 2014-2020.

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