The Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris, made visits to accommodation facilities in Northern Greece, as part of his presence at the International Fair of Thessaloniki. His schedule included visits to the Kavala Facility, the Drama Facility and the Lagadikiya Facility.

During his visits, Mr. Plevris was briefed on the operation of the structures and had meetings with the administrators and employees, highlighting their crucial role in the management of migration.

The Minister of Immigration and Asylum has made it clear in all his visits that the bill that recently became the law of the land is about substantially curbing illegal immigration. He stressed that anyone who enters our country illegally is committing a very serious criminal offence, which is not dealt with by screams of alleged “sensitivity”, but with concrete and implementable policies. He also stressed that there are no longer any factors that make Greece attractive for illegal immigration, as illegal immigrants will be treated as the law stipulates: return or be jailed.

During his visit to the structures in Drama and Lagadiki, Thanos Plevris made it clear that “the message is prison or return to your home country“. He stressed that the priority is to support local communities and announced that within the next month he will visit all the structures of Northern Greece, so that he has a personal perception of the needs and to examine ways of support. Finally, he made it clear that there is no plan to increase the number of structures, but instead the aim is to close them or convert selected ones into closed ones.

The Minister of Migration and Asylum was accompanied by the Secretary General for the Reception of Asylum Seekers, Dimitris Glymis.