A growing number of EU member states have signaled readiness to take in some 1,600 child and teenage refugees from severely overcrowded camps on Greek islands.
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EU Migration Commissioner, Ylva Johansson said on Friday.
Seven states to include Croatia, Germany, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg and Portugal were on board with the plan, which was announced on Thursday.
Johansson said even more countries are prepared to pitch in on the relocation initiative designed to ease pressure on Greece or were considering getting involved.
However, he did not name those countries.
There are more than 5,500 unaccompanied minors in the camps, according to the EU executive.
The total number of migrants living at the Greek island reception centres is 42,500, according to Greek authorities, more than seven times the intended capacity of 6,000.
EU interior ministers met in Brussels on Friday with the tense situation at the Greek-Turkish border near the top of the agenda.
They were briefed on the latest developments on the European Union’s external border with Turkey, where thousands of migrants are trying to cross into the bloc.
The home affairs officials also discussed the outbreak of the new coronavirus, which continues to spread throughout Europe.
Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have imposed travel restrictions on other members of the 26-country Schengen freedom of movement area, citing public health concerns.
The commission opposes general travel bans.
Instead, the EU executive is working on guidelines for border management in light of Covid-19, according to Johansson, which will be presented as soon as possible.
These could recommend the introduction of health screening on the EU’s external borders, or within the Schengen zone.
Such checks would be allowed under the Schengen area’s open-border rules, because they do not qualify as travel bans, she noted.
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