First refugees leave Greece under EU quota

AFP, ATHENS: The first refugees left Greece on Wednesday under an EU relocation plan, but Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned they were a “drop in the ocean” as the number of illegal migrant entries surged to 800,000 this year.
The six Syrian and Iraqi families, who are starting new lives in Luxembourg, are the first to be relocated from Greece under plans to share out nearly 160,000 migrants across the bloc in a scheme fiercely opposed by some EU members.
Tsipras, who was at Athens airport to see the 30 refugees off, said they were making “a trip to hope”, but warned their numbers were nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands who have arrived on European shores this year.

First refugees leave Greece under EU quota

AFP, ATHENS: The first refugees left Greece on Wednesday under an EU relocation plan, but Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned they were a drop in the ocean as the number of illegal migrant entries surged to 800,000 this year. The six Syrian and Iraqi families, who are starting new lives in Luxembourg, are the first to be relocated from Greece under plans to share out nearly 160,000 migrants across the bloc in a scheme fiercely opposed by some EU members. Tsipras, who was at Athens airport to see the 30 refugees off, said they were making a trip to hope, but warned their numbers were nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands who have arrived on European shores this year.