EU helps refugees on Aegean Islands

The Commission is helping channel further support to Greece to tackle the situation in the refugee camps, thanks to a new offer of assistance from Poland via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.  Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said: “Yesterday, Poland offered 156 refugee housing units to Greece. I would like to thank all countries that provided assistance to Greece. We must all do everything in our power to prevent tragedies like the recent fire in the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos, which left thousands of refugees without shelter. These offers are a concrete expression of European solidarity.” The new support from Poland comes on top of assistance sent by Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Netherlands, and France sent since April which includes sleeping bags, mattresses, blankets, sheets, toiletries items, four medical containers, and one medical station. Moreover, responding to a previous request for EU assistance in the beginning of March, 17 Member and Participating States offered over 90,000 items to Greece through the Mechanism. The European Union’s 24/7 Emergency Response Coordination Centre is in regular contact with the Greek authorities to closely monitor the situation and channel the EU assistance.