Faced with the influx of migrants who came by sea, Greece puts hola. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Wednesday, July 9, the suspension for three months of the examination of asylum requests filed by migrants arriving aboard Boats from North Africa. An exceptional measure, justified by the sharp increase in crossings in recent weeks.
“We will inform the European Union of our decision to suspend asylum requests for migrants for three months on board boats from North Africa”said the conservative head of government in Parliament. He said “All the migrants who enter illegally will be arrested and detained”.
A massive influx since the start of the year
Evoking a “Emergency situation” Who “Requires exceptional measures”Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he wanted to send “A message of determination (…) both for traffickers and their potential customers”. “The passage to Greece is closed”he hammered in front of the deputies.
More than 2,000 migrants have been rescued off Gavdos and Crete in recent days, marking a ” peak “ In arrivals, according to the authorities. Since the beginning of the year, more than 7,300 migrants have landed on these two islands, compared to 4,935 over the entire year 2024. Greece had already taken a similar measure in early 2020, in the midst of a migration crisis with Turkey.
Migration policies have tightened everywhere on the old continent for a few months, after the right has collected significant support in the last European elections and under the pressure of certain Member States such as Italy and Denmark. “We must have a safer, stable and robust Europe, and that is not really the case if we do not control the flows to Europe”said Danish Minister for European Affairs Marie Bjerre, during the presentation of the Union Presidency Priorities by Copenhagen, who started on July 1.
The EU would be preparing in this sense to condition its development aid in the fight against irregular immigration. According to Politico, the European Commission should propose to reduce subsidies to African countries which do not act against the departures of migrants to Europe next week.
