Imogen Sudbery: Greece and Policy Change

imogen sudbery: The plan drew sharp rebukes Friday from aid organizations, according to The Waterloo Record. The International Rescue Committee, which has been assisting people trapped in Greece by closed borders farther north, called the proposed policy change out of step with what is urgently needed on the ground. But under a European Union plan announced this week, Greece continental partners may be sending more people its way rather than helping to ease the burden. It is absurd that rather than stepping up to meet the pledges they have already made to relocate people from Greece, E.U. countries are actively seeking to send more refugees to Greece, said Imogen Sudbery, head of the IRC Brussels office. A European Commission plan announced Thursday could, at least in theory, add to those numbers by reinstituting rules that asylum seekers must apply for protection in the E.U. nation where they first arrived, and can therefore be sent back to Greece from other countries in Europe. In a statement, Sudbery cited the thousands of refugees staying in sites, designed for temporary stay, for nine months and now facing winter in inadequate shelters. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.