The Greek government, as widely expected, on Wednesday announced yet another set of measures to manage the resurgent migrant/refugee crisis in the country, as increasing flows of irregular migrants and would-be asylum seekers entering the southeast European country from adjacent Turkey has emerged as the primary problem plaguing the months-old Mitsotakis government.
New closed, i.e. guarded, camps were announced, accompanied by economic benefits for local communities where the units will be built and operated – a bid to prevent opposition by local residents and office-holders.
Additionally, as also long promised, the asylum process will be streamlined and accelerated, as the previous framework employed by the leftist Tsipras government led to lengthy and a process where repeated appeals by a third country national could prevent deportation for years. In many cases, authorities could not locate the third country national for deportation once the appeals process was exhausted.
Another measure announced is the establishment of a unified coordinating entity to better guard the country’s borders, especially the sea lanes, although details where sketchy on how a new authority would improve current patrolling by the coast guard and police units, and possibly military assets.
At the same time, a deputy defense minister who holds the migration/refugee portfolio said the priority is to decongest the handful of eastern Aegean islands that have borne the brunt of the crisis since 2015.
Minister Alkiviadis Stefanis also announced the establishment of a framework detailing the obligations and criterial that NGOs active in the sector must in order to continue to operate in the country, another long-standing demand by critics in the country, who have lobbed charges of shady activities – i.e. contacts and cooperation with smugglers operating on the Turkish side, opaque funding etc. – with by lesser known NGOs, both foreign and domestic.
Stefanis promised urgent legislation to both streamline the asylum process and to repatriate (deport) third country nationals who do not have the criteria for asylum, with the intent being to host both new asylum seekers and individuals rejected for asylum in the guarded “hotspots”.
The “carrot” offered to local communities, including the most affected eastern Aegean islands, such as Lesvos (Mytilene) and Hios (Chios), is to extend a lower VAT regime; more funding for health and education services; more hirings of local residents for the new units; as well as funneling 50 million euros to a special fund, called a “Solidarity Program”, to deal with the repercussions of the crisis, mostly via allocations to municipalities and regional governments.
