Government echelon, consisting of the Ministers of Immigration Policy and Asylum Dimitris Kairides and Citizen Protection Yannis Economouthe Deputy Minister of Shipping and Insular Policy Giannis Pappa and the general secretary of Public Order Manos Logothetisvisited the island of Rhodes today to examine and initiate solutions to issues related to the increased flow of migrants in the previous period.

The government echelon had cooperation with the regional governor of South Aegean Giorgos Hatzimarkoswhile meetings will also follow with the Boards of Directors of the Rhodes Hotel Association and the Dodecanese Chamber of Commerce, while Mr. Economou will also have a meeting with Greek Police officers on the specific issues that exist.

In his statements after the meeting that took place in the Region, Mr. Kairides pointed out that indeed in the previous period there was an upsurge in migration flows in the southern Dodecanese, but as he pointed out, in the last few weeks we managed to control the situation and significantly limit the flow of migrants .

“We want solutions to the issue of migration flows within the European framework and we are fighting day and night for this”, emphasized Mr. Kairides, who assured that the country will not experience the refugee crisis we had in 2015, because there are now other policies but and infrastructure.

The Minister of Immigration also thanked the regional governor of South Aegean for the cooperation they had, as well as the Coast Guard and the Greek Police for the efforts they are making to deal with the matter.

The Minister of Citizen Protection G. Economou pointed out that the cooperation and the effort for a stricter but fair immigration policy will continue, while at the same time he announced the hiring of border guards in 2024 for Rhodes and the other islands of the Dodecanese.

The Deputy Minister of Shipping and Island Policy Yiannis Pappas mentioned the continuous efforts made by the government to provide solutions, pointing out that the forces of the Coast Guard in the Dodecanese Islands have been significantly strengthened, in order to deal with the situation in the best possible way.

The regional governor of South Aegean Giorgos Chatzimarkos expressed his satisfaction with the effort being made and its results, stressing that our islands have borne a great burden of the immigration problem, disproportionate to what corresponds to them, as he characteristically pointed out. However, we will, as in the previous period, be present in the management of the problem with the aim of mitigating the effects on local communities, he noted.