Greece is determine to shut the doors to migrants and asylum seekers coming from North Africa and Migration Minister Thanos Plevris on Thursday defended the a controversial amendment that would suspend asylum applications for three months for individuals entering Greece illegally by sea from North Africa, and allow rapid deportations without prior identification.
Furthermore, the amendment foresees prison sentences up to 18 months, but also cuts in the food rations and in benefits. According to media, the cost for breakfast, lunch and dinner per migrant totals €6.88 per day incl. VAT. Note: the food is paid with EU Funds.
“The message we are sending is clear: stay where you are. You are not welcome here, you are not entitled to international protection, and you will not blackmail Greece,” Plevris said at the Parliament on Thursday before the voting..
Plevris described the situation as an “invasion of Europe” and warned that the government will not allow Greece to become a gateway for large-scale migration.
“We were shown a plan in western Libya involving 3 million migrants. If anyone thinks we will allow that population to enter Europe, then we are talking about population replacement,” he added.
Under the new rules, individuals whose asylum claims are rejected and remain in Greece will face detention and possible prosecution.
“From now on, for those entering illegally, the path is either prison or departure,” the minister said.
He added that the measures were introduced in consultation with the European Commission and are part of broader efforts to tighten border controls, particularly in Crete and the Evros region, where thousands of migrants attempted to cross from Turkey in 2020.
Talks between Greece and Libya’s eastern administration on curbing departures have recently collapsed when Migration EU Commissioner and migration ministers from Greece, Italy and Malta travel to Libya to meet with warlord Khalifa Haftar.
Greek opposition parties blame the government and especially Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis for grave mistakes in the policy with Libya that has effectively turned ex “friend” Haftar into a current foe.
Several party leaders asked also what are the two frigates and one warship are doing in the international waters off Libya that were deployed end of June with the aim to curb migration.
Human rights groups have condemned the Greek legislation as violating international and EU law. The International Rescue Committee said, “Seeking refuge is a human right; preventing people from doing so is both illegal and inhumane.”
Speaking at the Parliament, Plevris also lashed out at the NGOs involved with migrants saying “Enough with milking EU Funds!”
PS To hear such a phrase by a minister of a government that has allowed the “milking” of EU agricultural funds worth at least half a million euros over the last six years proves one thing: that Greeks have humor and lack of self-knowledge.
Thumbnail: migrants from North Africa left under the hot boiling sun on Crete.
Disgusting, shamefull, inhumaine. It’s not because Donald Trump has no moral co,pass that the rest of the world has to follow.
The plain fact is that ND has been taken over by the Far Right (look at the last two migration ministers, for a start) and are inspired by Trump’s lawless and criminal conduct. Greece has a legal obligation to accept asylum seekers, accepting those who qualify as refugees after legal examination of their situation. These are not “illegal migrants” until the courts decide such, and this claim is typical of the fascist right
Plevris and his father are Holocaust deniers, neo-Nazis — even worse than the criminals running Israel today.