Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris revealed that a mass message was sent to refugees and migrants in early July directing them to Greece, speaking earlier to the relevant parliamentary committee where a bill criminalizing the stay of those not entitled to asylum was introduced for discussion.
“In the first week of July, information was going to the mobile phones of people who were over there, saying ‘Italy is tightening its framework, don’t go there, move towards Greece and Crete-Gavdos, it’s the safest journey and has a more flexible framework’.” Minister Plevris described this as an aggressive move by smuggling networks. “When you have information that suddenly the networks start making an aggressive move against you, won’t you react? You will react, and you will react with diplomacy, you will react with better protection, you will react with deterrence, and you will react with this specific legislation,” he said meaningfully.
Plevris: Legal migration bill for parliamentary discussion and vote by end of 2025
Earlier, he had mentioned that thanks to government measures, flows to Crete decreased by 80% from August 1-27, while from the implementation of the amendment until August 15, voluntary and forced returns reached 808. Additionally, he said, another 250 returns have been scheduled or implemented through next week, while five flights have been scheduled for the first ten days of September to Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt.
According to Thanos Plevris, a bill concerning legal migration will be brought for parliamentary discussion and vote by the end of 2025. Meanwhile, opposition party representatives attacked the government, accusing it of Trumpism and far-right rhetoric. “The bill’s provisions will prove to be empty words for domestic consumption,” argued PASOK rapporteur Nadia Giannakopoulou, while SYRIZA’s Georgios Psychogios spoke of a return to pro-Trump policies. “It flirts with the far-right and fishes in troubled waters,” he commented, demanding withdrawal of the bill, which he said constitutes “a direct shot at the rule of law and humanitarianism.” KKE MP Diamanto Manolakou called it a monstrous bill and, directing her criticism at the government, emphasized that “it contributes to promoting racist and xenophobic hatred, creating scapegoats to perpetuate its authoritarianism.”
“You are demolishing asylum law,” said Course of Freedom leader Zoe Konstantopoulou, addressing the Migration and Asylum Minister, while speaking about targeting asylum seekers. “You present them as major criminals,” she noted characteristically, adding elsewhere: “You have devised to ‘drown’ them, you have bet on deterrence, it is illegal, push backs are an international crime and our country has been condemned with Farmakonisi.”
