As the summer neared its end in late August, a new chapter began for 121 migrants, who were relocated from Greek reception centres to Germany. A flight carrying 28 children with medical needs and their family members started from Athens in the morning of August 26 and brought its passengers from Syria, Afghanistan, DRC, Eritrea, Iraq, Iran, Palestine and Somalia safely to the airport in Hannover. Out of the 64 male and 57 female persons on board, 50 were children.

IOM Germany staff welcomed the migrants warmly and provided the necessary arrival assistance. After making sure that every person on the list was accounted for, the IOM team, together with BAMF, supported the families logistically and accompanied them to their designated buses along with the interpreters. After one more cross-check of the passengers, the buses took off to their designated German federal states.

Including the passengers on this flight, a total of 501 migrants have been relocated from Greece to Germany, France, Portugal, Belgium, Finland and Luxembourg. Germany has received 347 people so far. Among them were 55 unaccompanied migrant children who needed assistance in getting to their final destination. The project entitled “Voluntary Relocation from Greece” started in April and is funded by the European Commission and carried out by IOM, in partnership with the Greek and German authorities and UNHCR.