Greece has informed that 202 migrants were returned on Monday, the first day of implementation of the agreement between the European Union and Turkey, which provides that Turkey will accept failed asylum seekers who made it to Greece and the EU. MIA correspondent in Athens reports that these first returns have been organized without incident, even though situation was tense in the refugee camps across the country.
At the island of Lesbos, 136 migrants were taken from the Moria registration center to the port, where their identities and baggage were checked in detail. Two ships took them back to Turkey, accompanied by a dozen FRONTEX police officers, doctors and translators. Another group of 66 migrants was returned from the island of Chios back to Turkey. The groups included Pakistani, Morrocan, Sri Lankan, Algerian and Tunisian migrants, including a few Syrians.
It is estimated that over 50,000 people found themselves stuck in Greece when the decision was made to close the Balkan refugee route and Macedonia closed its border with Greece for the flow of migrants. Over a million people are believed to have crossed the border in the past year, going along the Balkan refugee route taking them to Germany and other core EU countries.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke on the phone with US Vice President Joe Biden and French President Francois Hollande on Monday evening, to discuss the situation with the migrants, as well as next steps in Greece's financial rescue program, which has been hit recently by Wikileaks revelations about alleged heavy handed negotiating tactics from the International Monetary Fund.