The Daily Mail is sending a message to Keir Starmer to follow the Greek example in migration policy, featuring an interview with the responsible minister, Thanos Plevris. The British media outlet, prompted by the migration flows across the English Channel that plague the United Kingdom, spoke with the Greek Migration Minister, noting in the introduction that “he doesn’t mince his words. He may be new to the job, but his message to the millions of young men waiting in North Africa to come to his country for a life in Europe is clear: ‘Don’t come here. We’ll put you in jail or send you home.'”
‘Don’t come here. We’ll put you in jail or send you home’: That’s the message from Greece’s new immigration minister as his overwhelmed nation passes a hardline law. So will Keir Starmer take the slightest notice? https://t.co/jl0j1UOI55
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) July 21, 2025
Plevris tells Daily Mail on migration: “We’re no longer a hotel”
Th. Plevris stated: “Greeks, like the rest of Europe, want to help genuine refugees, but we won’t be fooled. It’s the end of the fairy tale that those coming to Greece and Europe in incredible numbers are all women and children. They are mainly men aged 18 to 30 who are economic migrants. We’re no longer a hotel.”
“Many come from safe countries like Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Now we tell them that if you illegally cross by boat into Greece, don’t expect asylum, but prepare for five years in prison or a ticket back to your homeland,” he clarified.
As the Daily Mail comments in its report from Crete, Greece is on the front line of Europe’s uncontrolled migration crisis, which for the British culminates in smuggling gangs operating in northern France with Britain as their destination.
As it notes in the article, just in the first week of July, immediately after Th. Plevris’s appointment as Migration Minister, a wave of 4,000 people arrived illegally in Crete.
“Our big problem today is Libya,” emphasizes Thanos Plevris to Daily Mail on migration – The message about the European asylum system
“Our big problem today is Libya and who it’s sending,” Th. Plevris told the British media.
“Libya uses large ships carrying 200, even 300 people. Of all those who have arrived, 85% are men and the majority are young. They use Greece to illegally enter Europe for a new life. If we continue to sit and watch, this will never end. Three million migrants are gathering in Libya today,” he added.
“Now I plan to deter them from starting their journey here,” he emphasized.
In another part of the article, Th. Plevris stressed that the European asylum system is flawed, arguing that it somehow enables migrants to deceive authorities by throwing away their passports, hiding that they come from safe countries or concealing their age to win a ticket for a new life in Europe.
