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Action Plan, according to which labour force of 4.4 million are your country's budgetary cuts
the asylum service and first arrival foreigners. Migrants additionally affect the role Greece plays
reception centre were established. make up 25 % of wage and salary here in Geneva?
Apart from the regional Asylum earners.
Office in Attica Athens, three ad- Currently, I work with half of the
ditional asylum offices are in full All the same, the Greek Presi- personnel that our Mission used
operation in the border region. dency is determined to focus its to have in the past. Naturally
In 2014 five additional offices will efforts on a European holistic one cannot be happy when one is
open. approach and management of the forced to work with a reduced
migration policy, while promo- budget, yet we all understand the
The close cooperation between the ting parallel actions to mitigate necessity of cutting our expenses
Greek government and the UNHCR the consequences in the econo- for the sake of future generations.
is reflected in the report addressed mic, social and political reality Meanwhile, what matters is a
by the High Commission to Greece of EU Member-States. Emphasis successful Presidency and in his
for the EU Presidency encom- will be placed in updating the EU regard we have engaged a number
passing some recommendations Action Plan on tackling migration of young people who help us for
related to the asylum policy of the pressure - Strategic response, and the current semester.
European Union. especially on measures tackling
illegal migratory movements and Q: The New Year has just be-
Q: I presume that not all of combating human trafficking. gun: what would you like to
the 27,000 refugees will ob- Burden-sharing is part and parcel achieve this year, both person-
tain the status of political re- of this EU Action Plan. ally and as an ambassador?
fugee. How long can the refu-
gees stay in your country? Greece will work, inter alia, on First and foremost in my mind is
promoting cooperation with third the wish to see my country reco-
You obviously refer specifically to countries (origin and transit) in all ver from the economic crisis as
the Syrian refugee inflow which matters concerning an integrated quickly as possible. It is indeed
in fact numbers around 20,000, and effective management of mi- undeniable that Greece has made
14,000 of whom arrived in the gration policy. noteworthy progress both in the
last three years. Because of the economic and financial domains
dramatic situation in Syria a spe- Q: Other EU countries facing this year, something which was
cial treatment is awarded to the serious financial challenges achieved with the enormous sacri-
Syrian refugees in Greece. Upon at home have cut their staff fices of the Greek people.
arrival a six-month residence in Geneva. It would be sur-
permit is granted on humanita- prising if Greece had not At a global level I am hopeful that
rian grounds which is obviously been obliged to do the same. at least some of the international
renewable given the continuing Yet before the economic cri- conflicts or civil wars that ravage
grave humanitarian situation in sis, Greece was one of the so many parts of the world, will be
Syria. According to recent statis- most active and visible EU resolved. Concerning professional
tics, 99 % of the Syrian applicants countries on the diploma- goals, I would like to have a good
are awarded political refugee tic scene in Geneva. How do and efficient Presidency!
status.
PUB LICJTE
In this context let me underline the
importance of the implementation
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