Amongst the 1,220,000 refugees (53% of whom came from urban centres, while 47% from rural regions) 579,000 settled in the country and 653,000 in urban centres. 638,253 refugees had settled in Macedonia (among whom 446,094 in rural regions), 107,607 in western Thrace (72,000 in rural regions), 56,613 in the Aegean islands, 33,900 in Crete, 8179 in Epirus and 377,297 in the "Old Greece", among whom 343,721 settled in urban centres. In order to reinforce refugee families that lived in the country, the EAP and the government distributed more than 245,000 livestock and large quantities of agricultural tools. 2/3 of the Committee's expenses were disbursed in Macedonia. As a result, this part of Greece was invigorated to such an extent, that, quoting the impressions of Campbell, the representative of the Bank of England in EAP, in 1930, it was difficult to recognise the waste land of 1923: "there, where formerly spread vast uncultivated expanses now one sees villages that thrive, full of life and with evident signs of comfort even prosperity [...] This is due mostly to the courage, energy, hard work and receptivity that characterise the majority of refugees".
Although the settlement of refugees in rural regions, which was EAP's principal mission and had absorbed the largest part of its resources, was carried out rather successfully, bigger difficulties arose as to the settlement in urban centres. When the Committee started to function, the government had already promoted a plan of settling refugees in the remote parts of cities. The large percentage of newcomers had occupied commons, theatres, schools, churches and warehouses. Their permanent settlement near their workplace constituted the main preoccupation of the government. The lack of homes in Athens and Thessaloniki even before the Asia Minor disaster, constituted an even bigger problem after 1923. In 1924 the population of the capital had almost doubled since 1918 (approximately half a million). Therefore, 15,000 additional houses were needed, despite the fact that the state had constructed 9000 houses especially for the refugees. In Thessaloniki the housing problem was even acuter, since the city had been hit by the destructive fire in 1917. The settlement in urban centres costed the EAP 1\5 in relation to the settlement in rural regions. By the end of 1929 the Committee had built about 27,000 houses in 125 new settlements and the state had built 25,000 houses. However, that did not resolve the problem of wretched living conditions in the makeshift shanties that sheltered approximately 30,000 refugee families. Apart from the material problems that life in the cities induced, newcomers had to face additional difficulties due to living together and sometimes due to the tension between the refugees and the natives.
|