Galery

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The Syrian refugees who have been in Syntagma Square in central Athens for 20 days now, are opposing the taking of women and children away from the square. This is happening at a time when the negotiations on providing asylum are progressing at a rapid pace in the presence of Secretary General on population and social integration Angelos Sirigos, who said that he expects the relevant list of persons to initiate the procedure.

In particular, women and children who were to be transported by bus to Athens municipality and housed in a dormitory for women victims of violence, refused to get into the vehicle, since they thought that they would thus lose the opportunity to negotiate.

Nevertheless, reaching an agreement seems possible, as the Syrian refugees are currently showing flexibility with regard to asylum, but insist on speeding up the procedure.

At the same time, negotiations between the Committee of Solidarity and representatives of the Sunday school for immigrants are underway so that, as they themselves say, "we can help the Syrians come to a solution that will benefit refugees."

However, in an interview with Mega TV, Athens Mayor George Kaminis described as "unacceptable" the fact that some "are using the children as a shield, not allowing them to go with their mothers to the places for temporary accommodation arranged by the municipality." At the same time, he expressed concern at the fact that "unscrupulous people are using even children for political purposes" and because "the state has once again proved to be unprepared to fulfil its obligations with respect to such a major problem as refugees."