Migration flows to Greece have decreased by 40% compared to last year, according to Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris, speaking on Sky News. He also provided clarifications on the new border regime being implemented for those entering Greece illegally, while explaining changes regarding unaccompanied minors involved in criminal activities.
Plevris: stricter framework for underage migrants involved in violent incidents
“At the borders, there will be a separation between those who have a chance and those who do not have a chance of receiving asylum. Those deemed not to have a refugee profile will be transferred to closed facilities, their asylum will be examined within 12 weeks, and upon rejection they will be transferred to their countries of origin. At the same time, we are legislating that with Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Denmark we have advanced procedures and we hope that soon, not within 2026 but we hope in 2027, to create detention centers outside Europe”, he stated characteristically.
Regarding minors, he said that “we are reintroducing the preventive measure when we have cases of unaccompanied minors who cause problems, they will return to camps under detention. Instead of having a 17-year-old in Kypseli who will walk around with stilettos, I will have him under detention and when he turns 18 I will return him to Bangladesh, Egypt, etc. We take them to separate spaces, to safe zones”.
“The first separation at the borders takes place from May 12: Those who receive asylum go to open facilities in the interior, the others to closed facilities”, he commented meaningfully. Referring to the law that provides that anyone who enters illegally will be placed in detention unless they declare that they wish to leave the country, the Minister of Migration and Asylum said: “In 700 conviction cases, over 50% have said that instead of going to prison they prefer to return back and we have a 20% increase in returns by the end of April”.
Regarding migration flows, he finally said that “in the overall framework we have a 40% decrease compared to last year. We have a 65% decrease in the Aegean where we have 3,000 arrivals this year in the 5-month period from 8,000 in the same period of 2025, while in Crete the numbers are 4,600 in 2025 and until yesterday we were at 4,500”.
