Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris explains the new, stricter doctrine of Greece’s migration policy in the wake of the three-month suspension of asylum applications for individuals arriving from Libya, speaking on the show Direct on protothema.gr with Giorgos Evgenidis.

“Don’t come to Greece, stay where you are.”

With this phrase, Mr. Plevris encapsulates the government’s new migration doctrine for those not eligible for asylum, emphasizing that under the new bill soon to be voted on, individuals who are denied asylum even on appeal will be placed in administrative detention for up to 24 months, unless they voluntarily agree to leave the country. He notes the aim is to establish a policy of disincentives to reduce migration flows.

He announces an upcoming ministerial decision mandating medical examinations for individuals claiming to be minors without documents to prove it. He adds that, more broadly, lack of identification documents may now result in administrative detention, even for those who have filed asylum requests.

Plevris also states that increasing migrant returns is a key objective in the coming period and that this topic is now also on the European agenda. He highlights that fewer than 20% of those arriving from Africa fit a refugee profile, with most being young men.

He announces that a closed detention facility will be created in Crete, likely in an abandoned military camp, where migrants will be identified and processed. Depending on the availability of facilities elsewhere in Greece, they may either remain there or be transferred inland. He adds that based on migration flows from Libya, the three-month asylum suspension may be re-evaluated—alongside border control measures, if flows persist.

Finally, in response to his past statements about “dead migrants” during border protection operations, Plevris reaffirms his belief in a tough migration policy.