Minister to seek compensation for Chios residents affected by refugee camp
Migration Minister Yiannis Mouzalas is seeking to pass an amendment that will allow residents of Chios to seek compensation for damages sustained as a result of the operation of two migrants reception centers on the eastern Aegean island.
The amendment is due to be discussed on Tuesday, Mouzalas said, responding to a question in Parliament by opposition New Democracy MP Notis Mitarakis.
The criteria determining whether residents in the village of Souda, where one of the Aegean's biggest camps is located, will be similar to those already in place for claims on the island of Lesvos and in the northern Greek region of Kilkis, which also host camps.
“They will be given whatever help is possible,” Mouzalas said, clarifying that claims cannot be made for destruction of property or thefts that have not been reported to the police, or for alleged losses in revenue.
“There are some things the state will compensate and others it will not,” he stressed.
Mouzalas responded to criticism from the opposition of failing to do more to alleviate pressure on the islands hosting tens of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers in dismally overcrowded camps, saying that it is a “Sisyphean task.”
“The situation on the islands is tough,” Mouzalas conceded. “Everything depends on inflows,” he said.
Earlier this week Mouzalas said that arrivals have doubled since late August and accused the European Union of contributing to the problem by failing to keep its end of a deal with Turkey for containing inflows into the bloc.
