The migration issue is "particularly important and significant, and its effective management is extremely critical for local societies," Migration and Asylum Minister Makis Voridis said on Monday on Kos island, on the second day of his visit.
Voridis is representing the government at the Greek Independence Day (March 25) celebrations, and took the opportunity to meet with local authorities and to visit the Closed Supervised Facility (CSF) on the island, a ministry statement said.
The minister met with Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Nathaniel of Kos and Nisyros, the two islands' governor Constantine Svinos, the mayor of Kos Theodossis Nikitaras, and officers of the Greek police and the Port Authority. At the CSF, Voridis was briefed in detail on its operation and the challenges staff deals with.
In terms of the migration issue, he said, "I believe that right now we are at a satisfactory level of management which will improve further."
He also underlined that "the government's priority - and the mandate I have from the prime minister - is the effective management of illegal migration and organizing an efficient system of returns and refoulements. This is our basic political target. At the same time, we want to create terms for legal migration, but on our own rules: we would select who comes, where they go, where they work, and how long they stay. These are the terms of legal migration."
He said that the ministry is in continuous collaboration with the Municipality of Kos, and announced contributory schemes worth 1,440,000 euros that have already been approved for the island. In addition, a biological waste processing facility will be constructed for the CSF.