Greece blocks asylum claims for migrants on island of Crete after a surge in arrivals from Libya
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Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Island of Crete After Surge in Arrivals from Libya
Greece is temporarily suspending asylum applications for migrants arriving on the island of Crete. More than 2,000 migrants have landed on the Mediterranean island since the weekend, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to over 10,000. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament the government planned to build a detention site on Crete for migrants and was seeking direct collaboration between the Libya and Greek coast guards to turn back boats leaving the North African country. The suspension will apply only to migrants reaching Crete by sea. Migrants entering illegally will be detained, the prime minister said. The Greek government is sending a firm message: the route to Greece is closing, and that message is directed at all human traffickers, he said.
Athens, Jul 9 (AP) Greece said Wednesday it is temporarily suspending asylum applications for migrants arriving on the island of Crete following a spike in arrivals from Libya.
More than 2,000 migrants have landed on the Mediterranean island since the weekend, according to coast guard figures, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to over 10,000.
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Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament the government planned to build a detention site on Crete for migrants and was seeking direct collaboration between the Libya and Greek coast guards to turn back boats leaving the North African country.
“This emergency situation clearly demands emergency measures,” Mitsotakis told lawmakers. “The Greek government has decided to inform the European Commission that… it will suspend the processing of asylum applications — for an initial period of three months — for those arriving by sea from North Africa.”
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The suspension will apply only to migrants reaching Crete by sea. Migrants entering illegally will be detained, Mitsotakis said.
“The Greek government is sending a firm message: the route to Greece is closing, and that message is directed at all human traffickers,” he said.
Overnight, a fishing trawler carrying 520 migrants from Libya was intercepted south of Crete. A bulk carrier that took all of the migrants onboard was rerouted to the port of Lavrio, near Athens, so that the migrants could be detained on a mainland facility, authorities said.
Wednesday’s measures came after Libya was involved in a diplomatic spat with the European Union.
The EU’s Internal Affairs and Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner, who was leading a delegation of ministers from Italy, Malta, and Greece, was turned away from eastern Libya after an apparent disagreement over the format of the talks.
A spokesman for Brunner said Wednesday the talks had been scuttled by “a protocol issue” without elaborating.
Authorities on Crete said makeshift reception areas for migrants on the island were at capacity, and said they were seeking emergency assistance from the government.
An exhibition centre on the Cretan port city of Chania is being used for temporary accommodation, where migrants mostly from Somalia, Egypt and Morocco have been given rolled-up mattresses and children were handed balloons to play with.
Yiannis Zervos, mayor of the small coastal port town of Sfakia, in southwestern Crete, said the local authority was scrambling to provide basics for new arrivals, including setting up canopies to create shaded areas during an ongoing heat wave.
“The situation now — as much as we’d like to help — is unmanageable,” Zervos said. “No more people can remain under humane conditions.” (AP)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Greece To Halt Asylum Hearings For Migrants On Boats From Africa
Greece will suspend all asylum hearings for migrants arriving on boats from North Africa. Move came after more than 2,000 migrants landed on Crete in recent days. Greece had hoped to stem arrivals by reaching out to the authorities in Benghazi, eastern Libya. But that failed and more than 600 people were rescued by the Greek coastguard on Tuesday and Wednesday. The EU’s migration commissioner and the migration ministers of Greece, Italy and Malta cancelled a visit to Libya on Tuesday after a breakdown in diplomatic relations with the Libyan government. The UN-recognised government in Tripoli is also scheduled to hold talks with the Greek government on July 15, but that has also been cancelled by the EU’s foreign minister and migration commissioner. The Greek government could reopen camps built in the mainland after the 2015 migration crisis, the prime minister said.
The move came after more than 2,000 migrants landed on Crete in recent days, sparking anger among local authorities and tourism operators. Crete is one of Greece’s top travel destinations, and premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ home island.
Greece had hoped to stem the arrivals by reaching out to the authorities in Benghazi, eastern Libya, and the UN-recognised government in Tripoli — but that failed.
“The road to Greece is closing… any migrants entering illegally will be arrested and detained,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament.
The conservative leader said legislation would be put to a vote in the chamber on Thursday, and that Athens was keeping the EU informed on the issue.
The measure was a “necessary temporary reaction” and a message “to smugglers and their potential clients”, said Mitsotakis.
Greece took similar steps in 2020 during a migration surge at its land border with Turkey, which Athens accused Ankara of facilitating.
Another group of some 520 people were rescued near Crete early Wednesday, and will be rerouted to the Athens port of Lavrio, the coastguard said.
“The flows are very high,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis told Action 24 channel late Tuesday, adding that the wave was “growing and ongoing”.
On Sunday, the Greek coastguard rescued more than 600 asylum seekers in various operations in the area.
AFP pictures showed some of them landing near Agia Galini beach on the south of Crete, where many tourists were bathing.
Migration Minister Thanos Plevris — a former member of Greek far-right party Laos — posted on X that the country was taking “immediate actions to counter the invasion from North Africa.”
“Clear message: Stay where you are, we do not accept you,” he wrote.
According to the coastguard, 7,300 asylum seekers have reached Crete and the nearby island of Gavdos this year, up from fewer than 5,000 last year.
More than 2,500 arrivals have been recorded since June alone.
To manage the influx, the government could reopen camps built in the mainland after the 2015 migration crisis, Marinakis said.
Mitsotakis told parliament that a camp would also be built on Crete, with a second one also possible.
Greece had hoped arrivals could be reduced with the help of the authorities in eastern Libya in Benghazi, and the UN-recognised government in Tripoli.
But a visit Tuesday by the EU’s migration commissioner and the migration ministers of Greece, Italy and Malta was unsuccessful.
Accusing the bloc’s delegation of a “flagrant breach of diplomatic norms”, the authorities who hold sway over eastern Libya said they had cancelled the visit and told the EU officials to “leave Libyan territory immediately”.
The diplomatic breakdown has sparked concern in Greece of thousands of additional migrant arrivals from Libya.
“The other side is not cooperating,” Marinakis said, referring to the authorities in Benghazi.
Mitsotakis on Wednesday said Greece’s navy and coastguard were willing to work with Libyan authorities to keep migrant boats from leaving the country’s territorial waters, or to turn them back before entering Greek waters.
Libya has been gripped by conflict since the 2011 overthrow and killing of longtime ruler Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising.
Greece had reached out to eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar before the botched EU visit, sending Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis on Sunday.
Gerapetritis is also scheduled to hold talks with the UN-recognised government in Tripoli on July 15.
Greece to halt migrant asylum processing from North Africa
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the decision in parliament on Wednesday. An estimated 2,000 migrants and refugees have landed on Crete since the weekend, leading to anger among local authorities and tourism operators. Sea arrivals of people departing from northeastern Libya and attempting to reach Europe via Greece’s southern islands of Crete and Gavdos have exceeded 7,300 so far this year. Greek Council for Refugees demanded that there be no suspension of asylum, calling it ‘illegal’ and a violation of international law.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the decision in parliament on Wednesday amid an uptick of arrivals – an estimated 2,000 migrants and refugees have landed on Crete since the weekend, leading to anger among local authorities and tourism operators.
“With legislation that will be submitted to the parliament tomorrow, Greece will suspend the examination of asylum applications, initially for three months, for those arriving in Greece from North Africa by sea,” Mitsotakis told parliament.
“Migrants who enter the country illegally will be arrested and detained,” Mitsotakis added.
The conservative leader said legislation would be put to a vote in the chamber on Thursday, and that Athens was keeping the European Union informed on the issue.
Mitsotakis said Greece’s navy and coastguard were willing to cooperate with Libyan authorities to keep migrant boats from leaving the country’s territorial waters, or to turn them back before entering Greek waters.
Sea arrivals of people departing from northeastern Libya and attempting to reach Europe via Greece’s southern islands of Crete and Gavdos have exceeded 7,300 so far this year, according to estimates by the Greek government and aid organisations.
In contrast, total arrivals in 2024 stood at about 5,000.
The sharp increase has strained both islands, which lack formal migrant reception centres and have faced difficulties in securing temporary accommodation.
The migrants mainly come from the Middle East and North Africa, including nationals from Sudan and Egypt, and also from countries including Bangladesh.
‘Illegal’
In a statement on social media, the Greek Council for Refugees demanded that there be no suspension of asylum, calling it “illegal” and a violation of international law.
The group accused the government of using the increased influx of migrants and refugees as an “excuse”, saying it “only demonstrates Greece’s inability to guarantee basic fundamental rights”.
Greece rescued about 520 people off Gavdos early on Wednesday and was taking them to the mainland, the Greek coastguard said.
The Mediterranean nation was on the front line of the 2015-2016 migration crisis when more than one million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa crossed into Europe.
Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Island of Crete After Surge in Arrivals
More than 2,000 migrants have landed on the island since the weekend, according to coast guard figures. The total number of arrivals this year to over 10,000. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the government also planned to build a detention site on Crete for migrants. He was seeking direct collaboration between the Libya and Greek coast guards to turn back boats leaving the North African country. Migrants entering illegally will be detained.
Athens, Jul 9 (AP) Greece’s government said Wednesday it is temporarily suspending asylum applications for migrants arriving on the island of Crete, following a spike in arrivals from Libya.
More than 2,000 migrants have landed on the island since the weekend, according to coast guard figures, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to over 10,000.
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Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the government also planned to build a detention site on Crete for migrants and was seeking direct collaboration between the Libya and Greek coast guards to turn back boats leaving the North African country.
“This emergency situation clearly demands emergency measures,” Mitsotakis told parliament Wednesday. “The Greek government has decided to inform the European Commission that … it will suspend the processing of asylum applications — for an initial period of three months — for those arriving by sea from North Africa.”
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The suspension will apply only to migrants reaching Crete by sea. Migrants entering illegally will be detained, Mitsotakis said.
“The Greek government is sending a firm message: the route to Greece is closing, and that message is directed at all human traffickers,” he said.
Overnight, a fishing trawler carrying 520 migrants from Libya was intercepted south of Crete. A bulk carrier that took all of the migrants onboard was rerouted to the port of Lavrio, near Athens, so that the migrants could be detained on a mainland facility, authorities said. (AP)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)