Greece may extend its recently introduced suspension on processing asylum applications from migrants arriving by sea from North Africa if arrivals from Libya increase again, Migration Minister Thanos Plevris has said.
The three-month suspension, passed in July, was aimed at curbing arrivals to Crete, where numbers dropped from 2,642 in the first week of July to 900 in the weeks since the measure took effect.
Plevris told public broadcaster ERT he would not rule out an extension in the event of “a new crisis”.
The government is preparing new legislation stipulating that anyone entering Greece illegally, without fleeing armed conflict and thus eligible for asylum, could face up to five years in prison.
Plevris stressed that “all European countries now understand that it is not possible to have open borders.”
Human rights groups have accused Greece of forcibly turning back asylum-seekers at its borders – claims the government denies. The EU border agency is currently reviewing 12 alleged cases of human rights violations by Greece.
Source: Ekathimerini
