Address urgent needs for the reception and screening of new arrivals and for the accommodation of vulnerable groups. Assistance to voluntary returns.

Programme Summary

The objective of the programme is to ensure the existence of a functioning national migration management system that safeguards the right to seek asylum and gives special attention to the situation for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC). The main features of this programme are defined in the MoU, i.e. that the FMO will be the Programme Operator, that the grant rate will be 100 percent, that the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) will be the DPP and also the content of the three projects under the programme: a) A fund for NGOs running reception centres. Allocation of euro 4,874,760. b) A project on assisted voluntary return run by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Allocation of euro 1,115,000. c) Capacity-building offered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to the Greek administration in the reform of the asylum sector. Allocation of euro 2,349,248. The allocation of the total sum - euro 8,349,367 - between the three different parts of the programme was suggested after an expert mission to Greece on 14-15.April 2011. According to the Regulation (art 5,13), the FMO – as the Programme Operator – will contract a fund operator to manage the grant to the NGO's. The IOM has the capacity and the competence to fulfill this task. In September 2010, the UNHCR made a public statement declaring that "the conditions for asylum-seekers in Greece, which is among the principal entry points to the European Union (EU), are notoriously difficult. Most asylum-seekers receive no assistance. Many live on the streets, including women and children. The refugee status determination system does not operate properly and as a result, persons needing international protection are not identified as such. This is a humanitarian crisis, which should not exist in the European Union." Since this statement by the UNHCR, a series of other respected international and European institutions have published similar reports documenting the dire situation for asylum-seekers in Greece. The critical situation for asylum-seekers in Greece explains the main features of this programme. The programme is meant to respond to the urgency described by the UNHCR and other international institutions.