THESSALONIKI, Greece—The European Union will add 115 million euros ($129 million) in funding to humanitarian organizations in Greece to assist programs for refugees and migrants before the winter, officials said Saturday.
The money would be used to support refugee schooling, food stamps, heating and living facilities for unaccompanied minors, said Christos Stylianides, the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management.
“We have to respond to the needs of migrants in the EU. Most of these people risked their lives and traveled in a plastic boat to get here. We are providing help to improve the conditions they are facing,” he said.
Stylianides spoke in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki after meeting Greek government officials.
About 60,000 refugees and migrants are stranded in Greece due to European border closures.
The EU money was pledged a day after U.S.-based Human Rights Watch strongly criticized the government for continuing to use police cells to house unaccompanied migrant children.
Ioannis Mouzalas, a Greek minister for migration, said the government was working on building more permanent structures at camps to replace tents.
“We have said repeatedly that many of the facilities we have are not good quality and we are working to improve that,” he said, adding that it would take several months to create new facilities for children who traveled to Greece without adult relatives.
