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GENEVA / GREECE REFUGEE UPDATE
STORY: GENEVA/ GREECE REFUGEE UPDATE
TRT: 02:19
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 4 MARCH 2016, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / RECENT
RECENT - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations
4 MARCH 2016 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Pan right, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Melissa Fleming, Spokesperson, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “Ahead of a meeting of heads of state and government on 7th March in Brussels, there are recommendations as the situation – as you have all seen if you turn on the TV – in Greece is deteriorating. There are about 30, 000 people who are in Greece right now, 10,000 at the border, the rest in and around Athens and on the islands. Just yesterday over 2,500 people arrived on the islands, the day before just over 2,000.”
4. Wide shot, panel
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Melissa Fleming, Spokesperson, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR):
“We still really believe that if Europe came together now in a spirit of solidarity and with a lot of political will, this could still be managed. So Mr. Grandi has tabled a proposal”.
6. Med shot, panel
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Melissa Fleming, Spokesperson, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR):
“Under the relocation system only 603 people have been relocated from Greece and Italy since the plan was put into force. As you recall, there should have been, the EU has agreed to 160, 000 relocation places and of those over 66 000 for Greece. It is really not a good record so far”.
8. Wide shot, press briefing room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Melissa Fleming, Spokesperson, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR):
“It is not fair right now, it is not fair, that Greece and Italy have to take on all of the people who are arriving and all that entails, and it is not fair that Austria, Germany and Sweden for on behalf of all Europe have to take the burden of all the refugees who are arriving. That has to stop. So we believe that the system could be a mechanism that would unite Europe”.
10. Med shot, journalists
12. Close up, spokesperson
13. Med shot, journalists
14. Med shot, UN logo
As Europe's leaders prepare to meet in Brussels next Monday (7 March), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today issued recommendations aimed at helping resolve the worsening crisis involving refugees and migrants.
UNHCR’s Spokesperson Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva that "there are recommendations as the situation – as you have all seen if you turn on the TV – in Greece is deteriorating. There are about 30, 000 people who are in Greece right now, 10,000 at the border, the rest in and around Athens and on the islands. Just yesterday over 2,500 people arrived on the islands, the day before just over 2,000.”
Although the Greek authorities and military have ramped up their response, UNHCR says, thousands of people are sleeping in the open without adequate reception, services, aid or information. “With tensions mounting, the situation could escalate quickly into a full-blown crisis”, Fleming said. “We still really believe that if Europe came together now in a spirit of solidarity and with a lot of political will, this could still be managed."
To help address these issues UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi is proposing a six-point strategy to EU member states as broad guidance. Recommendations include the implementation of the so-called “hot spot” approach -- the creation of reception centres managed by the Europe Union (EU) in frontline states like Italy and Greece together with the relocation of asylum seekers out of these countries and the return of individuals who do not qualify for refugee protection.
The UNHCR Spokesperson reminded reporters that “under the relocation system only 603 people have been relocated from Greece and Italy since the plan was put into force. As you recall, there should have been, the EU has agreed to 160, 000 relocation places and of those over 66 000 for Greece. It is really not a good record so far.”
Other points in Grandi’s proposals include stepping up support for Greece to handle the humanitarian emergency, compliance by EU member states with EU laws on asylum, and legal ways for refugees to travel to Europe under managed programs.
The development of systems to protect unaccompanied and separated children, and for asylum requests to be distributed in an equitable way across EU member states, is also part of the proposals.
Melissa Fleming concluded that “it is not fair right now, it is not fair, that Greece and Italy have to take on all of the people who are arriving and all that entails, and it is not fair that Austria, Germany and Sweden for on behalf of all Europe have to take the burden of all the refugees who are arriving. That has to stop. So we believe that the system could be a mechanism that would unite Europe.”
UNHCR’s proposals make clear that EU members need to agree on the percentages of asylum-seekers that each Member State should take in.
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