Greece Adopts Tougher Asylum Laws to Deter Immigration

Greece’s parliament has enacted strict new immigration legislation, significantly hardening its approach to asylum seekers whose applications are rejected. The law, approved on Wednesday, September 3rd, introduces prolonged detention and hefty fines for those entering the country illegally while accelerating the process of returning migrants to their countries of origin.

This is a decisive policy shift by the conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, responding to a recent rise in arrivals at the nation’s southern islands. While immigrant flows have decreased overall since Greece was the epicenter of Europe’s migration crisis nearly a decade ago, an uptick in arrivals from North Africa via the islands of Crete and Gavdos this year prompted the state to act.

Under the newly passed measures, any undocumented migrant who enters from a country the European Union deems safe and is found ineligible for asylum will be given a choice: return home voluntarily or face mandatory detention for up to 24 months and a fine that could reach 10,000 euros.

This legislation is the latest in a series of steps taken by the Mitsotakis administration, which since taking power in 2019 has expanded border fencing along the northern frontier and bolstered maritime patrols in the Aegean Sea to deter incoming boats. Greece also started using ankle monitors on rejected asylum seekers to prevent them from fleeing and overstaying their time in the country.

Defending the government’s position in parliament on Tuesday, Migration Minister Thanos Plevris explained that the rights of Greeks outweighed the rights of immigrants whose asylum was rejected and who were staying in Greece illegally.

The Greek government reports that its tougher stance is already yielding results. Authorities say they have returned hundreds of illegal migrants since suspending asylum requests in July and are planning additional deportation flights this month to countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt.These policies continue to draw fierce criticism from human rights organizations, which have long accused Greek authorities of conducting illegal pushbacks on both sea and land frontiers. These allegations have gained traction: earlier this year, the EU border agency, Frontex, confirmed it was reviewing a dozen potential cases of human rights violations involving Greek forces.