The belief that the Greek legislation is fully aligned with European standards, safeguarding national interests, was expressed from the floor of the Parliament by Thanos Plevris.
“We are bringing the new Migration Pact in the best possible way,” Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris, said, supporting the bill for the “Implementation of the Pact on immigration and asylum and other provisions of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum”, which is being debated in the plenary session.
The minister acknowledged that migration is an issue “that clearly has an ideological dimension, but one thing is certain: from whatever angle you look at it, a country cannot be in a situation where it cannot control anything”. The evidence, Plevris said, shows that flows have been restricted and this has been shaped in many ways. He said we are in favour of deterrence, but within international law. Deterrence is talking to the Turkish Coast Guard and, when the boats start, having cooperation to stop them. It’s closing your borders where you can. Even in Crete we have deterrence policies in place for flows from Libya. Managing the flows, Plevris said, is done in the spirit of the Geneva Agreement on refugees and this is the answer to the right and the left. He stressed that the new Pact does not change anything for refugees, but for those who will not be granted asylum. “The new Pact may not be what we would have wished for, as it was a compromise between member states with different interests and between political groups in the European Parliament. A balance was achieved between first and second host countries.”
The key principles of the Pact, the minister said, is to have biometric data taken immediately to know where they entered Europe from. “The refugee profile is not derived arbitrarily but on the basis of concrete data. The detention status of those with below 20% refugee profile is so that they can be traced so that they can be returned if their claim is rejected within 12 weeks. Returns at European level are in the order of 18% because they are difficult as they need identification from their countries that they are their citizens.”
Mr. Pleyris noted that “the safe countries regulation was unfortunately voted down by the Social Democrats in the European Parliament – while they voted for the Migration Pact – which was important for Greece, because in the list of safe countries were Bangladesh, Pakistan and Egypt, from where we have flows and their citizens do not have a refugee profile”.
He said that the Third Country Return Hubs are for migrants whose asylum claim has been rejected and they can voluntarily return home; they are not in danger, they are just taking advantage of their country’s non-cooperation to repatriate them. They will act as a deterrent to coming, while contributing to their voluntary return.
He acknowledged that the big problem in the new pact is that the conditions for return remain because of the Dublin Agreement, but we have succeeded in deleting the returns that we should have accepted in our country for those who left to countries of second settlement by 13 June and we are zeroing them out.
Addressing the criticism of PASOK-KINAL, Mr Pleyris observed that the objections raised had nothing to do with the implementing measures but with the spirit and the letter of the Pact, “which was voted in the European Parliament”. The same oxymoron, he said, is noted with the other parties to the right of the New Democracy and the People’s Party who voted for the Returns Regulation in the European Parliament, but come here and do not vote for it. In other words, the Minister said, “while in the European Parliament you are celebrating the way you vote, you come to Parliament and vote against it so that they don’t tell you that you voted for a Mitsotakis bill! This is hypocrisy.”
The main problem in the flows today, the minister said, is in Crete, without having reached the levels of other countries again. He said that he has asked Heraklion for 7 points to set up a temporary structure and all have been rejected, unlike the cooperation that existed with Chania. However, he made it clear and pledged that if the latest proposal he has made for the creation of a structure in the old Heraklion MOT is rejected, “as Minister I will not let this management be done inside the port of Heraklion at the peak of the summer season, nor will I move people from Heraklion to Chania” and added that the tender is being completed for a special ship to transport migrants from Crete. The minister said that “the whole country cannot contribute with centres and structures – which even two islands such as Kos and Leros have – and Heraklion refusing a temporary structure in Heraklion. Everyone should take responsibility.”
