The government will reportedly add an amendment to a draft bill covering various aspects of legal immigration that opens the way for the creation of two temporary migrant detention facilities on Crete, near Chania and Irakleio, respectively.
Reports have the relevant minister, Thanos Plevris, adding the amending before a vote by the Parliament plenum on Thursday.
Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris
The large island of Crete has witnessed tens of thousands of third country nationals being ferried to its shores or within rescue range of Greek and Frontex resources over the past few years from strife-plagued Libya.
In reply to a tabled question by now independent deputy Evangelos Apostolakis, a former chief of the general staff who was elected on leftist SYRIZA’s ticket and also briefly served as the defense minister in the waning days of a SYRIZA government, Plevris said that as long as migration flows remain high, then a permanent facility will be established on the island. Such as facility, he said, would take two years to be completed.
In a breakdown of irregular migrants now using the so-called “southern route”, Plevris emphasized that migrants from Egypt, Bangladesh and Pakistan, for instance, who “are basically not entitled to asylum” will be immediately placed in detention so their asylum application can be rejected through fast-track procedures, thereby allowing the return process can begin.
“Our goal is to put tremendous pressure on ethnic groups that are not entitled to asylum,” he said, adding that the management of flows of Sudanese nationals is more targeted. According to the UN High Commissioner, there are roughly three million displaced Sudanese in the world, with 500,000 to 600,000 now in Libya.
