11-07-2025
Greek lawmakers to vote on North Africa asylum ban as rights groups cry foul
A vote on the law, which would also allow authorities to quickly deport migrants without identification process, was expected on Thursday or Friday. It is expected to pass, given the ruling party's parliamentary majority.
Greece, one of the main gateways into the EU for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa, has taken an increasingly tough stand on migration since Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' centre-right New Democracy came to power in 2019, building a fence at its northern land borders and boosting sea patrols in the east.
However, sea arrivals of migrants travelling from northeastern Libya to its southern islands of Crete and Gavdos, the closest European territory to North Africa, have surged this year.
Dozens, including children, sat on mattresses in a temporary reception centre in Agyia, near the city of Chania, on Thursday. There were among hundreds rescued by the Greek coastguard in the Libyan Sea off Crete in recent days.
"We are experiencing what I would call the worst crisis of the past two years," said Vasilis Katsikandarakis, head of the coastguard staff in western Crete.
"All the burden has fallen on the coastguard, who don't have the necessary equipment and personnel to deal with the flows."
Human rights groups said the proposed three-month asylum ban would violate international and European law, and called on the Greek government to recall it.
"Seeking refuge is a human right. Preventing people from doing so is illegal and inhumane," the International Rescue Committee.
Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis denied the law change was illegal and said it was meant to deter migrants.
Mitsotakis met European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Malta's Prime Minister Robert Abela on Thursday to discuss the issue on the sidelines of a conference in Rome.
They agreed to work on resending an EU delegation to Libya to revive a visit which was aborted when the parallel government of Osama Hamad, which controls the east and large areas of the south, denied them entry.
Reuters
