Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-08-07

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] UN agency for refugees calls on Greece to take control of the "complete chaos" on the islands

[02] Greek trade deficit down 1.8 pct in H1‏

[01] UN agency for refugees calls on Greece to take control of the "complete chaos" on the islands

The EU member states should also do more to help with Greece's problem, where 50,000 refugees arrived in July, the director of the UNHCR's Europe bureau, Vincent Cochetel, said after visiting the islands of Lesvos, Kos and Chios.

"In terms of drinking water, in terms of health care, in terms of food aid, the situation is completely inadequate. On most of the islands, there are no reception capacities; people do not sleep under a roof," Cochetel, a veteran of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, noted.

"There is complete chaos on the islands. After a couple of days, they are transferred to Athens where there is nothing for them," he added.

The Greek authorities must "lead and coordinate the issue," he said adding that he "has never before seen such a situation."

"We are concerned about this situation. None really seems willing to lead the efforts for dealing with the issue, and this makes it very difficult for humanitarian organizations to participate in the efforts," he stressed.

He also expressed concern over the deterioration of the situation in Greece and the possibility of being used for political purposes.

[02] Greek trade deficit down 1.8 pct in H1‏

The statistics service, in a report, said that the value of import-arrivals totaled 3.707 billion euros in June, down 12 pct from the same month last year (excluding oil products the value of imports fell by 2.9 pct), while the value of export-deliveries fell by 10.7 pct to 2.231 billion euros (excluding oil products the value of exports grew 18 pct).

Imports fell 6.1 pct to 22.244 billion euros in the January-June period (excluding oil products imports grew 2.2 pct), while exports totaled 12.998 billion euros, down 1.8 pct in the first half (excluding oil products exports grew 13.7 pct).

The country's trade deficit fell 14.1 pct in June to 1.476 billion euros (excluding oil products the trade deficit fell by 20.6 pct), while the trade deficit fell 11.6 pct in the first six months to 9.246 billion euros (excluding oil products the trade deficit fell by 9.1 pct).

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article