ATHENS, June 18, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (R) gives a life jacket as a gift to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a press conference after their meeting in Athens, Greece, on June 18, 2016. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
ATHENS, June 18 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised Greece's response to the ongoing refugee crisis during a visit to Athens on Saturday and urged the international community to provide more supports to the thousands of people fleeing conflicts.
During the two-day visit to Greece to see first-hand situation, the UN chief held talks with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Friday evening and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Saturday before travelling to Lesvos island in the Aegean Sea, one of the flashpoints of the crisis.
More than half of the almost 1 million people who landed on Greece's shores since early 2015, passed through Lesvos. About 57,000 refugees have been stranded in Greece since the closing of the Balkan Route to central Europe in February and are supported by the Greek state, the UNHCR, NGOs and ordinary people.
"I am here to express gratitude for Greece's efforts, for Greek peoples' efforts, for the demonstration of generosity while offering aid to so many people," Ban Ki-moon told Tsipras, stressing that Greece should not be left alone to address the crisis.
For his part, the Greek prime minister said he was proud of Greek people' response to the refugee crisis despite their economic problems, requesting more help from the international community to stem the refugee flows.
Tsipras referred to the EU-Turkey relevant agreement which came into force in March this year curbing the influx and the number of deaths in the Aegean.
"I hope that with your assistance we will be able to safeguard this agreement, protect human rights, tackle the human traffickers and put an end to the drowning of innocent people in the Aegean waters," he said.
During the press conference following their meeting, the Greek leader handed to the UN general secretary as a symbolic gift, a life jacket worn by a refugee that was collected on Greece's shores.
"(We hope) that in the future these people will be able to seek a better life through the legal path of relocation, far away from smugglers' nets, without having to wear life vests like the one I am presenting to the General Secretary," Tsipras said.
"We have to cooperate to protect these people and face the reasons of the flows. I continue to call for a better sharing of the responsibility across Europe and the world," Ban responded.
Welcoming the UN secretary general earlier at the presidential mansion, Pavlopoulos thanked him for his stance regarding the refugee issue.
"You handled this crisis also showing humanism and solidarity in accordance to the UN principles. Let this be our common message today, ahead of the World Refugee Day on Monday, June 20," the Greek president stressed.
