Greek PM views new camp, says migrant smugglers 'crushed'

Greece’s prime minister has flown to the eastern Aegean island of Samos to view a new camp for asylum seekers that has replaced the old, squalid facility on the island

VATHY, Samos -- Greece’s prime minister flew to the eastern Aegean island of Samos Friday to view a new camp for asylum seekers that has replaced the island's old, squalid facility, and said his government’s migration policy has “crushed” migrant smuggling networks.

Speaking in the remnants of the old camp on the edge of the island’s main town of Vathy, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he would continue to press European Union countries to come up with a common policy that would share responsibility for migrants among the member states.

“We will continue to work in order to persuade those European countries who consider that this problem does not concern them, to change their stance and contribute to this big, joint European effort,” Mitsotakis said.

Migrant entries into Greece have fallen by about 90% compared with those of 2019, the prime minister noted. “We have crushed the smuggling networks that were taking advantage of human pain and disappointment,” he said.