Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held an interministerial meeting on Monday to mainly discuss issues concerning the increased influx of migrants on Greek shores.
Following the meeting, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said that the latest developments in migratory and refugee flows were extensively discussed, as was the draft law on toughening the criteria for both applying and approving asylum status applications.
An analysis of nationality statistics of those entering the country has reportedly given rise to an understanding that migration is at the root of the problem, not refugees.
Troubleshooting the issue, therefore, requires a combination of the following measures, as per the meeting's conclusions:
- Strengthening of border security, specifically by increasing sea patrols at maritime borders. An additional 23 patrols are currently being carried out daily in the eastern Aegean islands.
- Construction of pre-deportation centers for those who have entered the country illegally and are not entitled to asylum status or whose application has been rejected.
- Increasing migrants' returns to home countries from 1,806 recorded in the 4.5 years of the previous SYRIZA government to 10,000 by the end of 2020.
- Compiling a 'safe countries' list so that those who have entered Greece illegally can be immediately returned to these countries.
- Continuing the decongestion of eastern Aegean islands by transporting refugees to mainland facilities.
- Internationalising Greece's migration issues with four actions, especially after PM Mitsotakis highlighted the issue at the 74th UN General Assembly in New York, with four actions:
a. Initiative on the migration route in the eastern Mediterranean, with a relevant document to be presented jointly by Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Greece to the European Union Justice and Home Affairs Council on 7-8 October.
b. Visit by Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection Giorgos Koumoutsakos to Turkey on 2-3 October for talks on the issue with his Turkish counterpart.
c. Talks during the visit of the French and German interior ministers to Turkey and Greece within the current week.
d. Greek initiative to raise the issue at the European Council on 17-18 October.
Concerning asylum applications and approvals
Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis introduced the bill to both speed up and toughen asylum application procedures, with the following main objectives:
- Update the Greek asylum system to deal with increased migratory flows and with the fact that the Balkan so-called 'corridor' to Europe remains closed.
- Set clear and precise rules to end the so-called 'anarchy' at refugee facilities and also better control the application procedures therein.
- Eliminate the consequences of legislation which has led to an undetermined number of foreign nationals who remain unidentified by the authorities and therefore cannot be returned to their home countries.
- Develop a new asylum system, compact, structured, rigorous, fair, designed in the spirit of exceptional circumstances.
Moreover, the basic principles of the bill are:
- To show full respect for the rights of asylum seekers, as provided for in EU law.
- To require applicants to cooperate with national authorities.
- To only allow applicants who have an approved refugee profile in the asylum system, and only keep those who comply with their obligations.
- Rapid removal of asylum seekers from the system if they employ delay tactics during the application process.
The purpose of the above interventions is to complete relevant procedures within three months.
*Source: AMNA
