Greece to hand out jail warning to irregular migrants
ATHENS
Irregular migrants in Greece will be issued information forms warning that failure to leave the country could result in imprisonment, under a new directive signed by Greek Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris.
According to the directive, the forms will be distributed to irregular migrants who entered the country unlawfully at closed migrant reception centers, identification and registration facilities and asylum application points.
The form specifies that irregular migrants who do not hold refugee status or any entitlement to international protection will be classified as “persons who entered or remained in the country unlawfully.”
In such cases, asylum applications from irregular migrants may be rejected and they may face administrative detention for up to 24 months, as well as imprisonment ranging from two to five years.
The form states that the only way to avoid these sanctions is to voluntarily leave the country, preferably before submitting an asylum application.
It further notes that asylum applications will be immediately rejected for irregular migrants who commit acts of violence or pose threats within reception centers.
Greek media have interpreted this measure as a sign of the government’s increasingly strict and punitive approach to migration policy.
In July, the government suspended all asylum claims for migrants arriving by sea from North Africa, a move it argued helped deter crossings that peaked in July at more than 2,500 in a single week. The government remains at odds with regional authorities in Crete over a plan to build a permanent transit facility on the island.
