1 Introduction
The Fifth Report on Relocation and Resettlement provides an updated state of play since the last report of 15 June and assesses the actions undertaken by all relevant stakeholders from 14 June 2016 until 11 July (the reporting period) to deliver on the recommendations made to accelerate the implementation of the relocation and resettlement schemes.
In light of the urgent need to provide support to both Greece and Italy, the European Council reiterated its call for further action to accelerate the implementation of the relocation and resettlement schemes at its last meeting on 28 June 2016.
Since 11 June 2016, 1,694 people have arrived in Greece. This number seems to reconfirm the continued trend of reduced arrivals due to the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement. The number of migrants present in Greece remained stable at around 57,000 migrants, around 8,500 on the islands and around 48,500 persons on mainland Greece.
According to recent estimates by the Greek authorities, around 34,000 migrants on mainland Greece belong to nationalities eligible for relocation.
In Italy, 24,977 people have arrived since 11 June following an increasing trend similar to the same period in 2015. Arrivals of Eritreans, one of the nationalities eligible for relocation, also remained high (Eritrea is the second highest nationality among arrivals to Italy with more than 2,000 arrivals in the reporting period). Based on information from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, 4,650 Eritreans are currently in Italy awaiting relocation.
During the reporting period, the overall rate of relocation continued at a similar level as during the previous reporting period. 776 additional persons have been relocated, bringing the total number of persons relocated so far to 3,056 (2,213 from Greece and 843 from Italy).
The overall progress on relocation represents a positive trend that has to be continued, but more efforts are needed.
As regards resettlement, 8,268 people have been resettled so far of the agreed 22,504 under the July 2015 scheme, including 996 since the last report, mainly from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. With the agreed actions set out in the EU-Turkey Statement only starting to be applied from 4 April, 802 persons have been resettled from Turkey to the EU under the 1:1 mechanism, including 291 since the last report.