Greek Prime Minister Assures Vatican That Condition Of Migrants In Greece Improved

Greek Prime Minister Assures Vatican That Condition of Migrants in Greece Improved

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Pope Francis in Athens and assured him of improved conditions for people held in migration camps on Greek islands during his visit to the Lesbos island this Sunday, the prime minister's office said on Saturday

ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2021) Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Pope Francis in Athens and assured him of improved conditions for people held in migration camps on Greek islands during his visit to the Lesbos island this Sunday, the prime minister's office said on Saturday.

The pope is currently on a tour of the region to highlight the plight of refugees trying to make their way to Europe, echoing a similar 2016 visit. The prime minister met with that the pontiff earlier in the day and stated that the latter would see how much the situation with migrants had improved during his upcoming visit.

"It has changed dramatically. We made a great effort to create decent facilities for the people on our islands," Mitsotakis said as quoted by his office, adding that the pope would see a building that, despite being temporary, meets the sanitation standards.

Greece is building closed-off migrant shelters across five islands in the Aegean Sea. According to human rights activists, these facilities resemble prisons as people are put behind high fences and barbed wire. Thirty-six human rights groups are planning to tell Pope Francis about the condition of the refugees, the alleged refusal of the Greek authorities to consider their asylum claims, as well as the issues at the borders of Greece and the European Union.