Organizations expressed their opposition to the tightening of provisions introduced by the new immigration bill during their hearing at the Public Administration, Public Order and Justice Committee. It is indicative that the UN High Commissioner’s Office, after openly warning about the risk of imposing sanctions on individuals in need of protection, spoke of provisions that raise serious concerns, including the extension of grounds and duration of detention. For his part, Andreas Pottakis, Ombudsman, spoke of provisions that contradict a series of fundamental legislation, such as the returns directive.
At the same time, the Greek Bar Association focused on the excessive tightening of immigration provisions and immediate criminalization of foreign citizens, while Administrative Judges denounced the strengthening of repression against migrants. According to the Amnesty International representative, provisions that undermine EU law should be withdrawn.
Immigration bill: What the Greek Council for Refugees representative denounced
Meanwhile, the Greek Council for Refugees representative denounced the criminalization of migration, while expressing the view that the bill being introduced for voting in Parliament’s plenary session on Tuesday will not even achieve its stated goal of increasing deportations. He also denounced the silencing and defamation campaign against NGOs, saying that organizations cannot be blamed for not complying with government policy.
The Greek Migrants Forum representative spoke of generalized criminalization of migrants’ stay, while the Greek Refugee Forum described it as a punitive bill. The Network for Children’s Rights expressed concern about provisions affecting children’s rights, while the National Commission for Human Rights spoke of dangerous legal acrobatics.
It’s worth noting that the Police Officers Union (POASY) expressed reservations, arguing that the Migration Ministry cannot implement the policies it designs without police assistance, which is now called upon to detain irregular migrants in immigration detention centers and escort them during deportation. “Will the migration issue be solved with the same limited police budget?” questioned the police representatives’ spokesperson, while denouncing that officers are at their limits due to understaffing and increased duties.
