Failures leave migrants stranded on Crete

File photo. [Intime News]

A bid of missteps and deficiency of coordination among ministries has near 1,139 migrants stranded successful a makeshift installation successful Agia, Hania, some detained there since August 15, according to section officials.

Two Hellenic Navy frigates equipped to show boats departing from Libya near the country past Friday aft much than two months connected station, with nary word connected their return. Only a wide support vessel without precocious surveillance instrumentality remains. Favorable weather successful waters south of Crete aided accrued crossings, officials said.

Since July 9, a Migration Ministry amendment has suspended asylum applications for migrants arriving from Libya for three months, classifying them arsenic detainees who indispensable beryllium guarded and transported by constabulary to closed centers. But successful August, constabulary were unable to supply information oregon transportation support, leaving 342 migrants confined without outdoor entree since mid-August.

Repeated appeals from the Hania Municipality to the Civil Protection Ministry for transfers were met with claims that mainland facilities were unprepared – a assertion Migration Ministry sources disputed, saying facilities met each specifications.

Local officials noted that aft a June 30 transfer from Crete to Kavala, constabulary unions protested mediocre conditions during the 36-hour operation. “It’s nary surprise staff can’t beryllium recovered for transfers,” 1 authoritative remarked.

From Thursday nighttime to Sunday afternoon, much than 900 migrants were intercepted south of Crete, galore landing connected Gavdos earlier transfer to Crete. Of the 1,139 radical present successful Agia, galore are Sudanese from a war-torn state but cannot record asylum claims under existent law.

On Monday, the ministries of Civil Protection, Migration and Shipping discussed transferring detainees to “compliant facilities connected mainland Greece,” Migration Ministry sources said, with 200 migrants scheduled for relocation by ferry.

Conditions astatine Agia, which is not designed for extended stays, are deteriorating, with reports of unwellness and two days of nutrient refusal successful protest. Police and seashore defender forces connected ιστοσελίδα fig lone 10.

The European Commission reiterated concerns implicit Libya’s information and politics, confirming ongoing engagement with North African stakeholders implicit rising migration flows to Crete.