The Greek government is pressing the EU to let member states suspend asylum applications during sudden migration surges. If approved, the proposal would cut across one of the core protections of the European asylum system. Migration Minister Thanos Plevris put the proposal before EU interior ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday, arguing that existing rules leave governments without sufficient powers when large numbers of people arrive at a border in a short period of time. “In such cases, there should be enhanced border surveillance and suspension of asylum,” Plevris told reporters before the meeting.
The proposal comes after more than 72,000 migrants entered Ceuta, Spain’s enclave in North Africa, in late July, according to the Spanish government. Most have since returned, though about 10,000 remain, according to the latest Reuters report. Plevris and other European ministers espousing a harder anti- immigration stance, argue that a sudden surge in arrivals, such as the one in Ceuta, should be handled primarily as a border control issue rather than through the ordinary asylum process.
The right to seek asylum, however, is guaranteed under Article 18 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Under the current system, people who reach EU territory have the right to seek protection and have their claims considered individually.
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) told Euronews in a statement that migration pressure does not allow governments to dispense with that obligation. “Even at times of migratory pressure, States must ensure that people seeking asylum have access to asylum procedures and cannot deviate from this important principle of international law.” The agency also warned that returning people without considering their individual circumstances could breach the principle of nonrefoulement, which bars states from sending people to places where they could face torture, inhuman treatment or threats to their lives or freedom.
Plevris, a former far right politician who is now among the European ministers pushing some of the bloc’s most restrictive migration policies, has repeatedly argued that European governments need much wider latitude in such situations. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, made a similar case earlier this summer, in an op-ed for Politico, backing temporary suspensions of asylum applications, while arguing that such a move does not constitute “a departure from Europe’s values but a necessary adaptation to new realities.”
The Dutch migration minister, Bart van den Brink, offered a similar argument on Thursday. “We have to find a legal way not to bring them into the asylum procedure,” he said, according to Reuters. “In situations like Ceuta, it should be treated as a border management issue rather than an asylum issue.”
The European Commission has yet to say how far it is prepared to go. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during her state of the union address that Brussels would propose an emergency mechanism for sudden large scale migration movements. But when EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner was asked Thursday whether that could include suspending asylum applications, he stressed that any new measures would still have to comply with fundamental rights and international law.
The debate is unfolding even as irregular migration into the EU has fallen sharply. Arrivals are down 35% this year, while returns rose by about 8% in the first half of 2026, according to Reuters.
A separate push to send rejected applicants outside the EU
Plevris is simultaneously pursuing a second initiative with the governments of Denmark, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands: a system under which people whose asylum applications have been rejected could be sent to countries outside the European Union.
The five countries have been working for months on plans for what EU officials call “return hubs.” On Thursday, EU interior ministers approved a new regulation allowing member states to establish such arrangements for people who are legally required to leave the bloc but cannot be returned to their countries of origin.
FILE PHOTO: Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME) Beate Gminder, Denmark’s Minister for Immigration and Integration Morten Boedskov, Netherlands’ Minister for Asylum and Migration and Deputy Prime Minister Bart van den Brink, Germany’s Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt, Austria’s Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner, and Greece’s Minister for Asylum and Migration Thanos Plevris pose for a family photo on the day of a meeting of the Ministers for Immigration and Integration from the Five Country Group in Copenhagen, Denmark, Friday, September 4, 2026. Ritzau Scanpix/Liselotte Sabroe/via REUTERS
In an interview with Politico this week, Plevris said the five governments want to launch a pilot project in the first half of 2027, with a broader system to follow later that year, when Greece takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Plevris said the model under discussion would not involve EU run offshore detention centers. “We’re not talking about centers, in the sense that someone whose asylum is rejected is sent to a closed facility in a third country,” Plevris told Politico. “If your asylum has been rejected, you will either return to your country of origin or to a third country outside the EU.”
Plevris, who has repeatedly praised President Trump’s immigration policies, told Politico that the five governments were open to different models depending on what the receiving country was prepared to accept, including camps or broader integration programs.
Two EU diplomats told Politico that Rwanda was expected to be the first country involved, while Uganda and Uzbekistan had also been discussed. According to Deutsche Welle reporting, a technical mission had already visited a possible host country in early September.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said discussions were still at a preliminary stage and that more work was needed to ensure that any agreement could withstand legal challenges. That concern is not incidental. Plans to send rejected asylum seekers to countries outside the EU have repeatedly faced questions over their legality and over whether governments can guarantee the rights and safety of people transferred there. An earlier attempt by Britain’s last Conservative government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was ultimately abandoned after years of legal challenges.
Plevris told Politico that the five governments were in discussions with unnamed international organizations about monitoring conditions in participating countries, but said responsibility would remain with the governments involved. “Obviously, we’re not going to transfer this authority elsewhere,” he said. “We want to have the expertise and the presence of international organizations, but the responsibility lies with the five countries, jointly.”
The New Democracy lawmaker also acknowledged during his interview with Politico that the number of people actually transferred to these “return hubs” might be relatively small. The program, he said, mainly would serve as a deterrent, while putting pressure on rejected asylum seekers to leave voluntarily. “In reality, it is another means of exerting pressure that could increase voluntary returns,” he said.
With information from Reuters, Politico, Euronews and Deutche Welle
