Quicker process for refugees’ travel papers
Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis on Monday visited the passports office of the Attica Aliens’ Bureau in order to inspect a new process of issuing travel documents to refugees to help them go to other European Union countries.
Commenting to reporters after talks with the head of the bureau, Dimitris Davalos, Mitarakis said the new system “resolves significant bureaucratic issues in the issuing of travel documents, as well as tackling obstacles to the assimilation of refugees, such as the issuing of a temporary health insurance number.”
The system is part of a broader attempt to enforce a “balanced migration policy” which also foresees the quicker processing of asylum applications, he said.
The ministry’s plan for the departure of at least 11,000 recognized refugees from state reception facilities and subsidized hotels by the end of the year has been condemned by human rights groups who say many are being left on the streets.
