Avrupa Times/London-The Hellenic Asylum Service, in close cooperation with IOM Greece and IOM Brussels, organized the transport of the 30 asylum seekers from Greece to Luxembourg as part of a pilot under a two-year European Union (EU)-funded relocation scheme. Staff from the Asylum Service and IOM Greece were on hand at the Elaionas reception facility in Athens to assist the group. They escorted the group to Athens International Airport on buses supplied by the Hellenic Police. At 08.30 a.m. the group departed on an Aegean Airlines flights to Brussels, accompanied by an IOM Athens staffer. On arrival in Brussels, IOM Brussels staff accompanied them to Luxembourg by bus. The day before their departure, IOM Greece met with the group to explain the details of their journey and what they could expect in Luxembourg.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, Luxembourg Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn, Greek Alternate Minister of Migration Policy Ioannis Mouzalas and European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Avramopoulos Dimitris were in Athens to witness the operation and met the group.