Two EU-funded refugee reception centers were inaugurated on Saturday on the Greek islands of Kos and Leros to improve conditions for the thousands of asylum seekers reaching Greece.

"Today, the European Union is turning a page in its migration policy," Margaritis Schinas, vice-president of the European Commission in charge of Promoting the European Way of Life, said during the event on Kos island.

"We deliver modern structures, safe for the residents, the employees and the local community," said Notis Mitarachi, the Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum, according to an e-mailed press release from the ministry.

"Greece is implementing a strict but fair migration policy," Mitarachi said, urging EU member states and Schinas to reach a consensus on the proposed EU pact for migration and asylum tabled by the European Commission a few months ago.

The two new closed, controlled access centers will start operating in early 2022.

Funded by the EU, the so-called closed, controlled structures feature barbed wire fences, surveillance systems and ID and fingerprint scanning at the gates, Reuters reported. The first such facility opened on Samos in September 2021. 

According to criteria, the two new centers can accommodate a total of 2,980 people, including unaccompanied minors and persons belonging to vulnerable groups hosted in facilities.

The budget for the construction of the facilities on Leros and Kos amounted to about $85 million total and was fully covered by the EU - Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, according to the press release.

Greece has been at the forefront of refugee migration flows since 2015.

More than a million people have reached Greece since then, and most continued their journey to other European countries until the winter of 2016 when borders along the Balkan route to central Europe were closed.

The influx has declined dramatically in recent years, but thousands still risk their lives to cross into Europe. As reception centers are no longer overflowing as in the past, with the support of the EU, Greece has made an effort to upgrade facilities for new arrivals.

Greek authorities recorded  7,242 new arrivals during the first 10 months of 2021, according to data released by the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum earlier this month.

Currently, about 38,000 asylum seekers are hosted in state-run facilities. The ministry said 9,794 individuals were deported, returned to their countries of origin voluntarily or relocated to other countries this year.

(With input from agencies)