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EU increases aid to migrants in Greece

September 11, 2016

The EU is to channel an additional 115 million euros ($129 million) in emergency support for refugees and migrants in Greece. Just under 60,000 people are stuck in Greece after borders were closed in the Balkans.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Jzyz
Griechenland Flüchtlingsunterkünfte in Lagadikia
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Mitrolidis

The European Union will provide humanitarian organizations in Greece an additional 115 million euros ($129 million) on top of 83 million euros from earlier this year, the European Commission said on Saturday.

"The European Commission continues to put solidarity into action to better manage the refugee crisis, in close cooperation with the Greek Government," Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Christos Stylianides said. "The new funding has the key aim to improve conditions for refugees in Greece, and make a difference ahead of the upcoming winter."

About 60,000 refugees and migrants are stranded in Greece due to border closures implemented earlier this year in the Balkans. Rights organizations have documented poor conditions in overcrowded camps.

The new funding will help improve existing shelters and build new ones, pay for a voucher system for migrants, and provide education and other support to unaccompanied minors.

It will be channelled via humanitarian organizations.

The EU's emergency support aid is in addition to financial assistance given under other funding programmes.

cw/jm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

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