(ANSAmed) - ATHENS, APRIL 2 - Describing the problem posed by
a burgeoning population of undocumented immigrants in central
Athens as "a ticking time bomb for public health," Citizens'
Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis and Health Minister
Andreas Loverdos announced on Sunday that all migrants will
henceforth need a health certificate proving that they have no
infectious diseases. In a joint press conference - unusually
held on a Sunday as daily Kathimerini noted - the two ministers
heralded a new legislative provision according to which teams of
experts from the Hellenic Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (KEELPNO) are to start conducting checks on migrants
with a focus on those living in cramped and unsanitary
conditions in central Athens. Those found to be suffering from
infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera, yellow
fever, leprosy, syphilis, malaria and diphtheria will be
transferred to hospital for treatment in segregated areas. The
list of hospitals to be involved in the scheme is to be
announced Monday, the ministers said. On Saturday, Chrysochoidis
said that the first of 30 detention centers for undocumented
migrants would start operating this month, adding that
legislation foreseeing the creation of three such centers in
each of the country's 10 mainland prefectures would be submitted
in Parliament this week. Chrysochoidis is to travel to Brussels
on Monday for an "emergency meeting" with European Home Affairs
Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom. The minister is expected to
reassure the commissioner of the Greek government's political
will to curb the influx of undocumented immigrants seeking to
enter the European Union via Greece. Greece is facing the threat
of ejection from the 25-state Schengen area of passport-free
travel amid accusations of inadequately policing its borders and
allowing undocumented migrants to make their way to other EU
member states.(ANSAmed).
