BERLIN

A German minister on Tuesday criticized the condition of refugee camps in Greece.

“It is disgraceful that such conditions are accepted in the middle of Europe,” Gerd Muller, minister for economic cooperation and development, said in an interview with German daily Rheinische Post.

“I have seen how 20,000 people were crammed in a camp planned for 3,000 people,” Muller added.

He said authorities should ensure rights and dignity of refugees in these camps.

“Evacuating children from these camps do not solve the problem,” Muller said, referring to evacuation of unaccompanied refugee children from camps in Greece to Germany.

Germany brought 47 refugee children to the country last month as part of an agreement to distribute unaccompanied refugee children in Greece to other EU countries.

Th European Commission launched an initiative in March to distribute 1,600 refugees from Greece, including mostly unaccompanied children, to member states.

*Writing by Busra Nur Bilgic Cakmak