Spain to receive 200 migrants from Greece and Italy

IT has been reported that Spain is due to welcome 200 migrants from Italy and Greece in the first part of May 2016. 

The announcement came from Acting Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz, who took part in an EU council meeting along with other ministers of the interior to discuss the issue of migration. Furthermore, the minister has claimed that Spain will also receive a further 385 Syrian refugees from Turkey, however there is no designated time frame for this operation. Apparently, 16,000 migrants were due to be transported from Italy to the Spanish peninsular, but only 18 have so far made the journey.

The exact number of refugees and migrants who have crossed over the Mediterranean into the EU since the migration crisis started in earnest last year seems to be unclear. The perhaps controversial move to return migrants to Turkey upon their arrival in Greek or Italian territories was intended to diffuse the work of mafia groups and people traffickers, who exploited those wishing to make the life-threatening journey.

April 1 saw Greece, Cyprus and Turkey forming an alliance to return illegal border-crossers to ‘safe-zones’ on Turkish territory. Restriction or housing centres were set up to examine eligibility for those refugees who applied for asylum. The first deportations took place as soon as April 4.