Ambassador of Iraq to Athens Shorsh Khaled Saeed, met with the Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum Giorgos Koumoutsakos.
The two sides discussed the new Greek government program that provides support to refugees that want to voluntarily return to their countries, who entered Greek territory before 1/1/2020, and to give them financial assistance in coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The Ambassador praised the efforts of the Greek government in preventing the spread of the new Coronavirus and in receiving refugees and migrants in previous years.
The Greek Minister requested assistance from the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in securing the implementation of the program by issuing passports to those wishing to return.
On his part, the ambassador expressed the embassy’s readiness in coordination with the International Organization for Migration to provide all facilities to return those who wish to return voluntarily to the country.
They also discussed the development of a plan to organize an exceptional flight to transport those wishing to voluntarily return to Iraq, in addition to returning 45 Iraqi citizens who were stranded due to the comprehensive ban measures and the suspension of flights after obtaining the approvals.