by Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Greece, a country at the frontline of the refugee crisis in the past three years, called on Wednesday for a global comprehensive solution to the challenge on the occasion of the World Refugee Day.
About 68.5 million people were displaced in 2017, including more than 22 million refugees, citing the latest UNHCR data, Greek officials said at a press conference in Athens presenting the recent figures on the management of the refugee crisis in Greece.
Some 62,000 asylum seekers are currently hosted in the country after more than 1 million landed on Greek shores since early 2015 before borders to central Europe closed in the winter of 2016, according to the Greek Migration Policy ministry.
In the first quarter of 2018, Greek authorities recorded 25,578 new arrivals up from 14,222 in the same period in 2017, as the 2016 EU-Turkey deal to stem the influx is tested.
"Every year on June 20 we honor the refugees, the people that were forced to abandon the life they had built and to leave their homes to save their dignity, their values and their life itself," stated Greek Migration Policy Minister Dimitris Vitsas in his message.
"We also honor those that welcomed refugees with understanding and solidarity and offered them another opportunity, shelter and hope for their future in another land...The protection of refugees and the offer of relief is a moral and legal duty provided by International Law for both Greece and Europe," he added.
The adoption of comprehensive European policies in addressing the issue is a necessity, the Greek official underlined.
"There is not comprehensive solution and we do not see it in the horizon. This is not a temporary phenomenon. We should not have illusions. As long as there are wars and extreme poverty -- and the West has responsibilities for these -- people will be on the move," Yannis Balafas, Deputy Minister of Migration Policy added during the press briefing.
The Greek official presented the progress achieved compared to 2015 in improving living conditions at reception centers, noting that 24,487 refugees and migrants are living in apartments.
He acknowledged that hotspots on the islands of the northern Aegean Sea remain overcrowded due to the continuing flows from Turkey and delays in the assessment of asylum bids by the Asylum service, stressing that not all sides are fulfilling their obligations to people in need.
"Some European states act as if this is a case that does not concern them," Balafas said, noting that there are delays in returns to Turkey as well as in the relocation scheme under which European countries would share the burden with Greece and Italy welcoming thousands of refugees.
Philippe Leclerc, UNHCR's representative in Greece, on his part welcomed Greece's efforts in addressing the crisis, urging for more work to be done by the international community to deal with the roots of the problem by helping put an end to conflicts.
"Today we celebrate the refugees' resilience and look how the international community can respond to the dramatic situation. The responsibility is global and should be shared," he stressed.
