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Greece tightens laws for asylum seekers

2025-05-28 16:51:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Greece tightens laws for asylum seekers

Greece has prepared a draft law that will include harsher penalties for asylum seekers whose applications are rejected and will accelerate returns to their countries of origin, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on May 28.

Greece was at the epicenter of the migrant crisis in 2015-2016, when more than 1 million people fled war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa and made their way to Europe.

The surge in asylum seekers has prompted calls for countries on Europe's southern border, such as Greece and Italy, to strengthen their borders.

Since then, the number of asylum seekers has fallen, but migration remains a sensitive political issue in Greece and Mitsotakis has vowed to toughen his stance.

"Penalties will be more severe for those who enter the state illegally or stay in our country if their asylum request has been rejected," Mitsotakis said during the executive meeting on Wednesday, where the new draft law on illegal migration was discussed.

Mitsotakis said the bill will also aim to accelerate returns through a “more effective and fair mechanism.” The regulations will need to be approved by Parliament before they can enter into force.

The flow of migrants to Greece fell by 30 percent in the first four months of this year compared to a year earlier, as fewer people entered along the eastern border with Turkey.

However, sea arrivals from Libya to the remote islands of Crete and Gavdos have increased sharply in recent months, along a new trafficking route in the Mediterranean Sea. Thousands of asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected are stranded in Greece.

To speed up asylum processes and reduce pressure on asylum systems, the European Commission proposed last week amending European legislation to allow member states to deport rejected asylum seekers if they can be sent to a third country deemed safe by the European bloc./ Rel





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