(VOVworld) – Belgium’s Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Theo Francken, said on Tuesday that Belgium will receive the first 20 Syrian refugees from Greece on May 25th.
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| Belgium will receive the first 20 Syrian refugees from Greece. (Photo: Reuters/ VNA) |
The move is within the framework of the EU agreement on the relocation of refugees in Greece and Italy to other EU member states. Belgium has committed to receive 250 refugees who currently are in Turkey. Francken said that “the agreement between the EU and Turkey will never receive an award in a beauty contest but it is very effective”.
In January, some 62,000 refugees arrived in Greece. Since then the number has decreased to just 4,000 refugees in April. The number of refugees drowned in the Aegean Sea fell to ten, compared to hundreds in the previous months, Francken said. Since March 20, 386 migrants have been returned from Greece to Turkey.