In a bold public address to private broadcaster Action 24 on Monday, Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris framed growing condemnation from international human rights organizations over his government’s restrictive approach to migration as a mark of pride, while vowing to advance what he calls one of the most uncompromising migration frameworks across the entire European continent.
Plevris’s hardline remarks come as Greece’s ruling conservative administration confronts a sharp uptick in irregular migrant crossings across the Mediterranean from eastern Libya, and pursues deeper bilateral cooperation with eastern Libyan authorities to stem departures. The Greek government has also thrown its full weight behind broader stricter migration regulations being advanced across the European Union.
“The era when unelected bureaucrats from Brussels or United Nations agencies could arrive in Athens and dictate how we manage our migration crisis is finished,” Plevris stated emphatically. “Every time a United Nations envoy raises concern over my legislation, it only reinforces my pride in that policy. The more groups like Amnesty International, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and UN envoys express irritation with our approach, the more I see that criticism as a badge of honor.”
Plevris also made clear that human rights organizations and charities that provide support to migrants have no place in shaping Greece’s sovereign migration policy, a stance that puts his government at odds with much of the international human rights community. Currently, Greece and several like-minded EU member states are in negotiations with a number of African nations to establish regional processing centers on the continent for migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected by European authorities. This proposal has already drawn sharp condemnation from global rights groups, who warn it risks exacerbating dangerous conditions for vulnerable migrants.
The push for closer cooperation with eastern Libya came into sharp focus on Monday, with Saddam Hifter, deputy commander of eastern Libya’s armed forces, visiting Athens for high-level meetings with Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. To strengthen collaboration on migration control, Athens is offering eastern Libyan authorities specialized coast guard training, alongside support for local employment programs and foreign investment initiatives aimed at cutting off the profit streams of human smuggling networks.
Just last week, the European Union formally approved a package of stricter EU-wide migration measures, even as overall crossings from North Africa and the Middle East have declined year-over-year. Greece, however, has bucked this broader trend: official data released by Greek authorities on Monday shows that arrivals and interceptions of migrants off the island of Crete, the most common landing point for departures from eastern Libya, have jumped more than 20% to 5,500 in the first five months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. The rate of crossings has accelerated even further since the start of June, according to the official figures.
Libya has emerged as a key transit hub for tens of thousands of migrants from across Africa and the Middle East who aim to reach European shores. More than a decade of political instability following the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi has allowed well-organized human trafficking networks to flourish, taking advantage of porous borders with six neighboring countries: Chad, Niger, Sudan, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia to move migrants toward coastal departure points.
Jalel Harchaoui, an independent analyst focused on Libyan politics and security, noted that eastern Libyan authorities are actively seeking closer formal diplomatic ties with European nations, alongside much-needed financial assistance to shore up their control over the region – a dynamic that has paved the way for the current migration cooperation agreement with Athens.