Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance they are providing to Greece to speed up the movement of refugees and migrants from camps on the Aegean islands to the mainland.

The UK has a strong bilateral relationship with Greece and continues to offer support and exchange expertise on effective migration management to alleviate the pressures on the islands. As part of this, the Home Office continues to provide interpreters to support the essential work of the Greek Reception and Identification Service alongside taking steps to strengthen joint efforts to tackle organised immigration crime.

Border Force also continues to deploy a Cutter in the Aegean to support vital search and rescue operations; since May 2015 Border Force Cutters deployed to the Aegean have rescued over 16,600 migrants attempting the dangerous journey to reach the islands.