The Council of State (CoS) rejected a presidential decree that gave thousands of refugees and third country nationals that had entered Greece clandestinely the status of a legal resident in the country.

The CoS ruled that allowing irregular migrants to stay in Greece, temporarily for humanitarian reasons, was not in line with the country’s law. It should be noted that the controversial presidential decree was endorsed by nine ministers in the past, leading to thousands of undocumented would-be economic migrants to receive a temporary legal status while residing in Greece.