Greece’s Immigration Policy Minister Dimitris Vitsas promised a large crowd of Pakistanis that the Greek government would find ways to ensure the safe and orderly passage of their compatriots to Europe so they “would not risk their lives in containers and the seas”.

Addressing an event organised by the Pakistani community in Greece called “Enotita-Unity” at the Athens Economics University, the Greek Minister initially apologised to the predominantly male audience of 1,000 that he had to speak in Greek, instead of Urdu and said the government had passed a new law that allowed Pakistanis living in Greece for 7 years to extend their stay by 3 more years until they took care of their papers by simply producing any single piece of documentation, a letter, a certificate etc to prove who they are.

Mr Vistas informed the audience that the Greek Ministry was driven by the ideology of “no borders” saying that the slogan the leftist government adhered to was “dreams have no borders”.