Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the difficulties of social distancing in refugee camps in Greece, what (1) financial, (2) medical, and (3) infrastructure, support they have provided in such camps.

The UK has a strong bilateral relationship with Greece and continues to offer support and exchange expertise on effective migration management to alleviate the pressures on the islands. In previous years, this has included expert deployments to advise on camp security and functioning, and translators to assist with the processing of arriving migrants. Current UK humanitarian support includes a UK Border Force cutter to conduct search and rescue in the Aegean, as well as over £500,000 of humanitarian supplies.

The UK Government is concerned about the risk of coronavirus in relation to the migrant camps on the islands. The Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum has enacted emergency measures to contain potential coronavirus outbreaks in the migrant camps, including the provision of additional medical facilities and staff through the EU’s Emergency Support Instrument – these measures have so far been effective and there are currently no reported cases of COVID-19 in the camps on the Greek islands. Our Embassy in Athens continues to closely follow developments.

In total, the EU has provided 700 million euros, half of it immediately on 3 March 2020, to help Greece manage the current migrant situation and COVID-19. The UK Government currently has no plans to provide funds to Greece for development of infrastructure.