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The Weekend Neos Kosmos : 23 June 2018
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20 THE WEEKEND NEOS KOSMOS | SATURDAY 23 JUNE 2018 DIGITAL.NEOSKOSMOS.COM Campaign launched for return of stolen Byzantine manuscripts A campaign is being led by the Greek Orthodox Church together with the Hellenic American Leadership Council Rare Byzantine manuscripts, stolen during World War I, have become the focus of a new campaign pushing for the return of the historically and culturally significant artefacts to Greece kickstarted by the the Greek Orthodox Church. The religious manuscripts had been housed in the Monastery of Kosinitza located on the north-eastern slopes of Mount Paggaio in northern Greece before they were stolen in 1917 by Bulgarian guerrillas. It has since been discovered that the manuscripts ended up divided around the world. One of the stolen Greek manuscripts of the complete New Testament (Codex 1424) that dates back to the 9th century was returned in November 2016 to the Greek Orthodox Holy Metropolis of Drama by the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. However, other manuscripts remain scattered, with some known to be located at sites across the United States including Duke University, Princeton University and Morgan Library. To assist the church in building momentum for the campaign, the Hel- lenic American Leadership Council has come on board. The council created and ran a petition, and sent it to the institutions in possession of the manuscript material, calling on them to return the artefacts back to Greece. The petition reads as fol- lows: "I am a Greek Orthodox Christian, and I have learned that your institution is in possession of Holy manuscripts that were stolen during World War I from the Kosinitza Monastery in Drama, Greece. These manuscripts are an important part of our faith and history and were wrongfully taken from the monastery. "I urge you to return these manuscripts as soon as possible. There is certainly precedent for such action: other institutions have returned stolen art and artefacts, including the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago which returned a manuscript stolen at the same time and from the same location as the ones that are in your collection. "Please, right this wrong and return these manuscripts to their rightful owner. Thank you." A response from the institutions has yet to be received. Significant increase in asylum seekers entering Greece from Turkey, says Frontex In the first five months of 2018, Greece has been Europe's top entry point for refugees and migrants, according to the most recent report from European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex, the European agency for the management of operational cooperation at the external borders, that is responsible for coordinating border control efforts. From January till May this year, over 19,800 people entered Greece, while the land border crossing from Turkey to Greece saw a 90 per cent increase in crossings mainly from Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Frontex has warned that a new wave of mass migration could be coming to Europe via the eastern and western Mediterranean, and called for transnational cooperation to stop it during a meeting in Lower Austria in which Frontex's Deputy Executive Director Berndt Körner claimed that the number of migrants was rising significantly both in the eastern part of the Mediterranean into Greece and in the west from North Africa. In a press release published on Monday, Frontex presented data referring to the detection of irregular border crossing at the external borders of the European Union. A girl shows off her arms during a rally against the EU-Turkey deal, in Athens. PHOTO: AAP VIA AP/YORGOS KARAHALIS "About 14,000 individuals were flown back to their home countries from EU states in 2017 in 341 flights, and many of them would be looking to return to Europe through Turkey and into Greece," Mr Körner stressed. "The same person may attempt to cross the border several times in different locations at the external border." Even though fewer irregular border crossings were detected on the main migratory routes into the EU than last year (46 per cent less), there have been signs of growth in recent weeks, possibly due to improved weather conditions. In Orestiada, a Greek town which lies near the land border with Turkey, Mayor Dimitris Mavrides complained that the area was being overrun with migrants in April. "Our reception facilities are overwhelmed and things are on the verge of spinning out of control. Far more are coming than are actually being registered," he said. "They are coming precisely because it is not part of the deal and because word has got out … if they get here and are processed, they are free to go anywhere on the mainland. We have four buses a day to Athens and Thessaloniki and they are full," he added. Frontex has also noted an emergence of new subroutes via Albania, Monte- negro and Bosnia Herzegovina, as well as from Serbia to Bosnia Herzegovina. This has been linked with increased migratory pressure in these countries in recent months and at the border between Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia. At the same time, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced he would be forming an "Axis of the Willing" alongside German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and Italian populist leader and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini to strengthen the EU's external border and fight illegal immigration. Germany received 78,000 asylum applications in May – up 14,000 from the month before. The country's migration intake threatens to bring the coalition government to collapse with Chancellor Angela Merkel being held accountable by Mr Seehofer. Meanwhile, Guinea nationals accounted for the highest number of arrivals in Spain this year, followed by those from Morocco, Mali and the Ivory Coast. Tunisians and Eritreans were the two most represented nationalities on the route to Italy, together accounting for more than 37 per cent of all the detected migrants. Rise in asylum seekers sees Greek mainland migrant camps reopen An average of 75 migrants are arriving on the Aegean islands daily Greece has stepped up to cater to the increasing number of people seeking asylum in Europe, with the reopening of camps and facilities across the mainland. The decision to open four camps, which were set up in 2015 at the peak of the refugee crisis, follows Malta and Italy's refusal last week to allow a rescue ship carrying over 600 migrants to dock at their ports. With the four centres, there will be a total of 25 centres assisting migrants across the country. North of Athens, tents have been set up at the Malakasa camp to accommodate to 300 people, while another 400 people will be housed at the Vagiochori camp near Kosinitza Monastery. Thessaloniki, which is expected to reopen in the coming days. While numbers at some centres had either decreased or plateaued, that trend has since been reversed. One example is the Skaramagas refugee centre near the port of Piraeus, where over 2,000 people are currently being accommodated. On the islands, which are taking the brunt of the crisis, protests have been taking place for months to raise awareness about the impact of overcrowded living conditions at camps and resulting violence. This has particularly been the case at the Moria refugee camp on Lesvos. The Greek government has said that it aims to cut the number of migrants on the islands by the end of September. Statistics indicate that on average, 75 migrants are arriving each day on the Ae- gean islands in need of support, reports Kathimerini. Since the refugee crisis started up until 11 June this year, an estimated 12,065 refugees have arrived in Greece. PHOTO: ALTERNATIVE ECONOMICS
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