The number of migrants on the Greek islands has fallen sharply. Nevertheless, Athens follows a strict policy on refugees. “We will not see a new 2015,” assured Migration Minister Mitarakis.
Moria was hell – and the notorious refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos also went down in a hellfire. It was in the middle of the night on September 9, 2020, when around 12,000 people had to flee in a hurry from their makeshift accommodation before the flames.
Six young migrants set the fire. If the hopelessly overcrowded Moria camp burned down, they calculated, Athens would be forced to bring the people to mainland Greece. This calculation worked out to a certain extent. But Greece has since become a fortress.
The day after the fire, all that was left of Moria was smoldering tree stumps, ashes, and the charred skeletons of tents and container homes. Sometimes the now homeless residents had to sleep on the surrounding streets for weeks – crying children, frightened women, desperate men with little more than their clothes on. Many Europeans still clearly remember the pictures from that time – and yet it has become quiet around the Greek refugee islands.
Almost 3800 migrants left on Lesbos
This is mainly due to the fact that only around 6000 migrants live on Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Kos and Leros directly opposite the Turkish coast. A year ago there were more than 40,000. The Greek government has since brought most of the people to the mainland, and many of them have received asylum. After the Moria fire, other EU countries also took in migrants; Germany, for example, brought in more than 2,750 people at the time, in Austria the ÖVP opposed the admission of people from Moria. On Lesbos itself, around 3750 migrants are currently still living in a temporary camp that the government set up together with aid organizations after the fire.
The situation on the Greek islands, which has become more relaxed for the first time in years, is also due to the government’s tightened pace on migration issues. Since the conservative party Nea Dimokratia (ND) with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been in power – for a good two years – there have been repeated allegations from aid organizations that Greece is pushing the refugees back to Turkey without hearing them. Athens denies that these are so-called pushbacks, which are illegal under international law. “Like every country, we have the right and the duty to protect our borders. We do this in accordance with European regulations and international law,” Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis never tires of emphasizing.
“Will not experience a new 2015”
In addition, Athens has greatly expanded its border protection. A renewed increase in the number of refugees has been feared, especially since the crisis in Afghanistan. The government’s worst scenario assumes around one million people, reports the Greek media, citing government circles. “We won’t see a new 2015,” assures Mitarakis. At the height of the refugee crisis in the Aegean Sea six years ago, more than 850,000 refugees from Turkey came to Greece and thus to the EU within a year.
The Greeks also have bad memories of the U-turn of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who surprisingly declared the border with Greece to be temporarily open to migrants in spring 2020. Thousands of people then tried to cross the border and the Evros river in northeastern Greece. Since then, Athens has extended the border fence there by 27 kilometers to a total of 37 kilometers and hired more than 400 additional border guards. Drones are also in use, as well as an airship equipped with thermal imaging cameras.
Dispute with Turkey about taking back migrants
Greece also complains that Turkey is not taking back more than 2,000 rejected migrants, as the refugee pact between Ankara and the EU actually foresees. The Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin described the complaint as a “joke” in July, given that Turkey has already taken in 3.6 million Syrian refugees. In Turkey, too, the climate is currently worsening overall: Ankara has already declared several times that it will not accept any further refugees.
It remains to be seen whether this could also apply to the EU-Turkey deal, which the country repeatedly insists on updating. The figures from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) suggest that Turkey is largely complying with the pact with regard to border protection: According to this, only around 5,000 migrants illegally entered Greece from Turkey by the end of August.
This does not prevent the smugglers from bringing people to Europe for a lot of money – even on more dangerous routes. The Greek coast guard has recently been picking up refugee boats on a direct route from Turkey to Italy with increasing frequency. The EU border protection agency Frontex confirmed that this central Mediterranean route has so far been responsible for the majority of illegal border crossings this year.
The problem of multiple asylum applications
Another facet of the refugee problem is currently causing EU politicians additional headaches. If people receive asylum in Greece, they are allowed to travel to other EU countries according to EU regulations. There they then increasingly submit new asylum applications.
Greece emphasizes that people cannot be locked up. Athens also rejects the accusation of treating the refugees badly so that they want to leave the country. The country has repeatedly called for the EU to do its part and take in refugees by means of a quota system – so far without success because the states cannot agree on a common line.
The situation in Greece is difficult for everyone, unemployment is 15 percent, says Migration Minister Mitarakis. One month after a refugee is officially recognized, government housing and financial aid cease to exist. “Then people have to take care of themselves – just like Greek citizens.”
(APA/dpa)