Within the month, the Ministry of Migration and Asylum will bring to Parliament the bill that will “align” Greek legislation with the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum.

This is a reform that mainly changes the way those who enter the country illegally are treated: from the first moment of arrival to the final decision (asylum or rejection) and — most importantly — up to return. The political direction is clear.

It also arrives as a continuation, bearing the imprint of Minister Thanos Plevris which has measurable results: a stricter approach for those without a refugee profile, tighter timelines, and less room for time to pass and turn temporary stay into a fait accompli. In this new architecture, two elements change the game: return hubs and the overall chain of management of irregular arrivals from screening to deportation.

Screening for all

The major shift begins with the first step: screening. It does not concern a few, and it does not only concern those who apply for asylum. It concerns all those who enter Greece irregularly, regardless of whether they have already submitted an application for international protection. The aim is to ensure proper identification from the outset, health checks, and — above all — extensive security screening.

The procedure, as presented by the responsible minister Thanos Plevris at the Council of Ministers, will be implemented both on the islands of Lesvos, Samos, Chios, Kos, Leros, as well as in the mainland, in facilities such as Malakasa and Diavata. Screening also has a strict time “cut-off”: completion within 7 days at the borders and 3 days in the mainland. And once it is completed, each third-country national is referred to one of two directions: asylum procedure or return procedure (if they do not submit an application).

Before even starting the substantive examination of an asylum application, a priority check is foreseen, with simplified procedures, to assess the possibility of transferring applicants to other Member States for family reunification reasons (i.e., when family members are identified in another Member State). This early filter is critical for the system’s functioning: it reduces administrative delays, relieves facilities, and places cases more quickly into a channel that is not exclusively Greek.

Refugee profile

From there, the new system divides asylum cases according to profile. For reasons of nationality, EU-level recognition rates, and public order/national security reasons, certain categories of applicants will be mandatorily referred to the border asylum procedure. In practice, this mainly concerns countries with low recognition rates, such as Egypt, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

The key feature is time and status: the application must be examined mandatorily within 12 weeks at first and second instance. During this period, the applicant is considered not to have entered the country, has no access to the labor market, and is either in detention or under restricted liberty. The procedure attempts to cut off the transition from the border to the mainland as a “normality.”

If the application is rejected within the border procedure, there is no opening for a long period of stay. This is followed immediately by a new border return procedure, which must also be completed within 12 weeks, without the person being formally admitted into the country. At this stage, detention is mandatory. In simple terms: time ceases to be the field where the return battle is won — or lost.

Time is established as a mandatory cutoff. Conversely, third-country nationals with a stronger refugee profile (countries or conditions that more frequently lead to international protection) are directed to the regular asylum procedure. The timeframe is longer — up to 6 months for a decision — while the applicant has more guarantees, including access to employment under legal conditions, education, etc.

In the mainland

However, the new framework does not leave a gap in the mainland. It establishes a mandatory fast-track procedure for low-refugee-profile individuals found circulating irregularly in the territory. The examination is conducted within 3 months, and there is no access to the labor market. If the application for international protection is accepted, refugee status or subsidiary protection is granted.

The new element explicitly introduced into the framework is the linking of access to social assistance (benefits/provisions) with the beneficiary’s actual participation in national integration measures and programs. Otherwise, if the application for international protection is rejected, the return of rejected applicants to their country of origin, to a safe third country, or to a return hub is ordered. Rejected applicants must either depart voluntarily or — otherwise — be forcibly removed by the Hellenic Police.

Here, for the first time in the “official vocabulary” of the implementation of the Pact, the concept of the return hub appears as a specific destination option for return. What this will mean in practice — which countries, under what agreement, with what guarantees — is the field where the measure’s real effectiveness will be judged. However, the principle is clear: return ceases to be one-dimensional (only country of origin) and opens the way for “return hubs” as part of the European strategy. It is also provided that the Minister of Migration and Asylum may conclude such agreements, in accordance with EU law.

Minors

There is also a clear exception that functions as a red line: unaccompanied minors are excluded from the scope of the article, meaning they cannot be included in this return pathway. Another point that changes the system’s daily operation is the closer link between the return decision and the asylum decision. From now on, the return decision must be issued either together with the negative asylum decision by the same body, or simultaneously in the case of competence by another administrative authority. This element is central: it “breaks” the previous picture where asylum and return often moved on different timelines, creating delays that in practice functioned as an informal extension of stay.

The bill concerns not only procedures but also the second major “pillar” of the Pact: solidarity. For the first time, a mandatory solidarity mechanism is established, so that when a Member State, such as Greece, is under pressure, assistance from other Member States is provided through relocations, financial support, or operational assistance.

It is also foreseen that in cases of crisis, mass arrivals, or instrumentalization of migration flows, Member States may apply special derogations so that a frontline state can respond effectively.

The new framework attempts to respond to a reality that Greece knows better than many: flows change, routes shift, traffickers adapt. Where the old system was often judged by duration and queues, the new system sets rules of speed, detention/restriction, and immediate linkage between asylum and return.

Return hubs, border procedures, and screening are not keywords; they are tools that, if they operate as designed, change where the management of irregular entry is “won” or “lost.”

Against this background, Thanos Plevris is credited with the choice to shift the burden of policy from managing flows to managing returns and overall tightening of migration policy. Following the instructions of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Minister, as government officials say, brings “measurable results without making noise.”