With thousands of people arriving on its beaches, many of whom are fleeing war-torn African countries, the country has taken more strict measures, raising concerns about how those seeking sanctuary are treated.
The Greek migrant minister used terms like “invasion” to characterize the increasing number of immigrants, underlining that “anyone who comes will be detained and returned.”
This hardline attitude has already resulted in significant changes in policy and practice, such as the detention of individuals without giving them the opportunity to tell their tale, especially those escaping conflict zones like Sudan.
The severe nature of the situation is most evident in the Ayia detention facility, which is built in an ancient exhibition center.
Migrants are forced to deplorable circumstances during a hot Greek summer, as reported by the BBC.
They crowd around a few outside taps, stripped to the waist or wearing vests, with no good showers and only dirty blankets to sleep on.
Many people are afraid to speak up since guards have warned them not to communicate with strangers. Inside the institution, cartons of donated clothes and toys stay unopened, as officials worry that releasing them may incite conflict.
Asian and African migrants rerouting to Greek shores
The bulk of people apprehended are from Egypt, Bangladesh, Yemen, and Sudan, with African migrants accounting for a large proportion of new arrivals.
On one weekend alone, 900 individuals arrived on the Greek island of Crete from Libya, overloading already overburdened services.
Between January and late June, more than 7,000 illegal migrants arrived in Crete, more than double the amount registered the previous year.
According to the EU’s Frontex border agency, about 20,000 migrants entered Greece across the Eastern Mediterranean during that time, with the Libya-Crete route currently the busiest corridor.
The shift to Crete as a key entrance site followed Italy’s contentious agreement with Libya to apprehend and return migrants at sea, an arrangement that has sparked widespread condemnation owing to Libya’s history of human rights violations.
Greece has subsequently followed suit, launching its own crackdown.
In mid-July, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated that “the road to Greece is closing,” and that any migrant who entered illegally would be arrested.
The implications of this transformation are obvious. Mustafa, a 20-year-old Sudanese migrant who escaped his country’s violent strife, was one of those recently imprisoned.
In a succession of voice and text messages, he narrated his perilous journey: months in deplorable conditions in Libya, two days at sea on a plastic boat crowded with 38 people, and eventually an arrest in Greece.
“We are living here like a prison,” Mustafa told the BBC.
“They don’t allow us to move. We don’t have clothes or shoes. Our situation is very bad,” he narrated.
“I left my country because of the war. I can’t go back,” Mustafa continued.
“I come from Sudan because there is war in Sudan, and I want protection. That’s why I came here. Now we do not know what our fate will be.”
Greece has also halted many people’s right to seek refuge, as part of a larger crackdown that includes jailing individuals whose asylum requests are dismissed and keeping others under electronic monitoring.
