Greece’s Migration Minister: “Countries of origin must be obliged to take back their citizens”

“A condition so that the international protection of refugees can work is the return of those whose requests have been denied to their countries of origin,” Greece’s Migration and Asylum Minister Dimitris Kairidis stressed in a post on the social media platform X Twitter on Thursday.

Επιστροφές, επιστροφές, επιστροφές

Πραγματοποιείται σήμερα το Συμβούλιο Υπουργών της ΕΕ για τη Μετανάστευση στο Λουξεμβούργο. Χθες βράδυ, μόλις έφτασα, συναντήθηκα με την ομάδα του Ευρωπαϊκού Λαϊκού Κόμματος, στην οποία ανήκει η ΝΔ, και αποτελείται από ομολόγους μου από την… pic.twitter.com/HT2Eyw503E

— Dimitris Kairidis – Δημήτρης Καιρίδης (@DimKairidis) October 19, 2023

He pointed out that the crisis in the Middle East has increased a sense of urgency regarding the adoption of common migration policies at a European Union level.

The Minister noted, among others, “today, returns are few and must be increased through a common European mechanism that will coordinate and oblige the countries of origin to take back their citizens.”

As expected, Kairidis did not elaborate what mechanism will be applied so that the countries of origins will be obliged to do so especially when often “false countries of origin” are declared. Furthermore, he must know as a minister of Migration and Asylum that bilateral agreements with the countries of origin have to be signed for the return purpose.

Nevertheless, Kairidis was apparently proud of his statement and proposal and stated “thus, a powerful deterrent message will also be sent to trafficking rings and flows will decline.”

And all his colleagues from the Council of Ministers of the EU on Migration held in Luxembourg on Thursday went to the nearest restaurant to enjoy a lunch and content that they did their work today with lots of statements empty of significance  as usual.