The Minister of Migration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris, conducted a tour of five facilities today as part of preparations for the Reception Services ahead of the new bill on illegal migration. Accompanying him were the Secretary General for the Reception of Asylum Seekers, Dimitris Glymis, and the Head of the Reception and Identification Service, Ioannis Fragkoulis.
Mr. Plevris visited the facilities in Malakasa, Oinofyta, Ritsona, Thiva, and Schisto, where he toured the grounds, received detailed briefings on registration and identification procedures, identified operational issues, and spoke with the directors and staff of the centers.
During his tour, Mr. Plevris made the following statement:
“Today we are visiting all the facilities located near the Attica region. The main objective—beyond meeting the people and seeing the structures—is to prepare for the new direction the bill will take. From now on, inside the facilities, there will be immediate notification to asylum seekers that, if their application is rejected and they belong to targeted groups that we know do not have a refugee profile, they will face prison sentences of 2 to 5 years.
Our aim is to accelerate returns, even before the asylum process is completed. It must be clear early on that illegal stay in the country has consequences—and those consequences include loss of freedom.
We are therefore preparing our facilities so that, following the passage of the bill in early September, they are fully ready for complete implementation of the new framework.”
The Minister concluded by emphasizing that the operation of the facilities will be immediately adapted to meet the requirements of the new law, aiming for effective enforcement of the strict policy against illegal migration.
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