European Union announces €2000 as aid to migrants in Greece to return home

The European Union has said that it will pay €2000 as an aid to every migrant lodging in overcrowded camps in Greece to ensure that they go back home.

The scheme was announced by EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson in Athens on Thursday.

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It is a temporary scheme which is open for one month and it is valid only for migrants who arrived prior January 1.

However, 5,000 migrants will be eligible for ''voluntary return''.

Hundreds of migrants and refugees have reached Greek islands near Turkey by boat this month, this has increased the pressure on struggling reception centres.

The camps on those islands already have nearly 42,000 asylum seekers, though they were designed for about 6,000.

According to Stephan Oberreit, head of an aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres in Greece, "men, women and children are living in horrific conditions in these overcrowded centres, in constant fear and with very basic access to services like toilets, showers, electricity".

However, it is not clear how many would qualify for refugee status.

Many of the migrants are Syrians fleeing the civil war, but there are also Afghans, Pakistanis and West Africans.

European Union officials on had promised more cash for Greece during a visit to its border with Turkey which tens of thousands of migrants and refugees were trying breach.