Greece passes a law to make it harder for asylum seekers who are turned away to get their money back

Greece has enacted legislation that imposes harsher sanctions on asylum applicants who are denied entry, such as €10,000 in fines and 24 months in jail.

As migrant landings at Greece’s southern borders have increased this year, the country’s parliament has approved new laws that would stiffen sanctions for denied asylum applicants and expedite their return to their home countries.

Enacted on Wednesday, the rule mandates that undocumented migrants who arrive from EU-designated safe countries and are not eligible for asylum must either return home willingly or risk incarceration for a minimum of 24 months and fines of up to €10,000.

Since the peak of the 2015–2016 crisis, when over a million people passed through Greece to enter Europe as refugees from war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa, migration flows into Greece have drastically decreased. However, earlier this year the government temporarily suspended asylum applications for migrants from North Africa because to a recent surge in landings from Libya via Crete and Gavdos.

Under the conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which has already increased sea patrols and built a border fence with Turkey since taking office in 2019, the measure is part of a larger tightening of migration policy.

“The right of Greeks to defend their nation is more important than the right of someone whose asylum application has been denied to remain in the country illegally,” Thanos Plevris, the minister of migration, said parliament on Tuesday.

People who truly need international protection could be punished by the law, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. Greece was encouraged to implement expedited asylum procedures in order to distinguish between refugees and those who are not eligible for protection more quickly.

Lawful returns are a priority for Athens. Following the suspension of asylum claims in July, officials reported that hundreds of irregular migrants were deported. This month, additional return flights are scheduled to Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt.

But for a long time, human rights organizations have charged Greece with unlawful “pushbacks” at its land and maritime boundaries. The EU border agency Frontex said earlier this year that it was looking into 12 examples of potential rights abuses by Greek officials.