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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 29 January 2020

Europe's asylum agency signs

deal on boosting Greek presence

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — said. EASO funding for its in Asia, the Middle East and
Europe's asylum agency Greek operations will also Africa continue to arrive in
signed a deal with Greece increase by 30%, from 27 Greece from neighboring
Tuesday that will help ex- million euros ($30 million) Turkey each year, despite
pand its operations in the last year to 35 million euros a 2016 European Union-Tur-
country, which is struggling in 2020, he said. key deal designed to stop
to process asylum requests Koumoutsakos said the migrant flows.
amid high migrant arrivals signing of the agreement Most head from the Turk-
and overcrowding in island Tuesday was an "important ish coast to nearby Greek
camps. day in Greece's efforts to islands in the eastern Aege-
The European Asylum Sup- tackle ... the great chal- an, where under the EU-Tur-
port Office said in a state- lenge of migration." key agreement they must Migrants stand outside their makeshift tents outside the perimeter
of the overcrowded Moria refugee camp after a rainfall on the
ment that the agreement "The challenge is very big, remain pending deporta- northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, Tuesday, Jan.
signed in Athens "gives le- difficult and hard to solve. tion back to Turkey unless 28, 2020.
gal and administrative clar- (EU) member-states must they successfully apply for Associated Press
ity to the status of EASO in not and cannot stand asylum in Greece. In prac-
the country." alone in the face of a chal- tice, very few are returned able to find accommoda- not managed to solve the
EASO and Greece had al- lenge of such magnitude," to Turkey. tion inside pitch makeshift problem.
ready agreed for the num- Koumoutsakos added. The deal and a massive tents and shacks outside EASO head Nina Gregori,
ber of agency staff in the "European cooperation, backlog in asylum appli- the camp's perimeters. who signed the deal with
country to double to more solidarity and coordination cations has left thousands Greece's nearly seven- Koumoutsakos, said the of-
than 1,000, Greek Alternate are essential." stranded on the islands in month-old government has fice had been increasing
Migration and Asylum Min- Tens of thousands of peo- desperately overcrowded vowed to tackle the over- its support to Greece since
ister Giorgos Koumoutsakos ple fleeing war and poverty camps, where those un- crowding but so far has 2011.q

Peru judge orders detention for

Fujimori during graft probe

Franklin Briceño participation in a money investigation.
Associated Press laundering scheme tied Fujimori's Popular Force
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Opposi- to Odebrecht, the Brazil- party was the dominant
tion leader Keiko Fujimori ian construction giant that bloc in the previous con-
can be held 15 months in has confessed to paying gress, but fared badly in
prison while she is investi- out almost $1 billion in Sunday's elections, falling
gated for possible mon- bribes to South American from 72 seats to just 12 in
ey laundering, a Peru- governments. the 130-member legisla-
vian judge ruled Tuesday, Fujimori insists she is inno- ture.
shortly after official vote cent. The vote followed Presi-
returns showed her party She already spent a year dent Martin Vizcarra's de-
was trounced in weekend in prison under detention, cision to disband the body
congressional elections. but had been released in last year and call new
Judge Victor Zuñiga said November by Peru's con- elections as he sought to
Fujimori, 44, must return to stitutional court, which strengthen his campaign
detention while prosecu- said she had lost the ca- to root out endemic cor-
tors investigate her alleged pability to interfere in the ruption. q