The relevant minister on Tuesday detailed a draft bill that significantly reforms – along a much stricter line – the country’s asylum and migration framework, as Greece continues to serve as a “magnet” for migrant trafficking rings attempting to smuggle third country nationals onto EU territory.
According to Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris, who spoke to the national news agency (ANA), the draft legislation intends to create two types of reception facilities, distinguishing between arrivals who are eligible for asylum and those who aren’t.
Greek Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris
The draft legislation has already been presented to the Cabinet and approved, with its tabling in Parliament for debate and a vote to ratify pending.
The government has already temporarily suspended asylum requests from third country nationals that arrive by boat from North Africa, primarily eastern Libya, after a surge in trafficking targeting Crete throughout the past year.
Conversely, he promised that legal corridors will be expanded to attract guest workers from third countries, such as Egypt,
“The philosophy of the new bill is based on three levels. First, completing (the issue) of permits that are still pending as soon as possible…there are more than 290,000 outstanding permits. Secondly, opening up legal migration corridors, as legal migration, in reality, provides us with the capability of controlling who comes, for how long and how they will return. The third level relates to how we can employ those who are granted asylum and have them enter the labor force, instead of living in a system where they receive perks and benefits. The message will be very simple: you either work or you leave.”
