“There is currently no pressure on immigration due to war. However, we have information indicating mobility within Iran and Lebanon involving about 1 million people who have been relocated to different cities, and this is a concern for us,” Immigration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris said Monday morning.
Speaking to SKAI, he explained, “Whenever such mobility occurs, there is concern that if conflicts persist, population movements could follow.”
Regarding Libya, he noted, “We are experiencing the same flows as last year, and overall flows are down 46%. There are around 500,000 displaced people in eastern and western Libya, which is why we remain concerned. We are actively negotiating with the government of eastern Libya.”
On the new immigration pact, he said, “What we achieved with France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium was to remove thousands of cases of migrants returning to our country under Dublin II. However, since the signing of the pact on June 12, we have reactivated Dublin II. The pact applies to normal situations, with regular flows considered to be up to 150,000 people.”
Finally, he added, “The purpose of the return centers in third countries is to ensure that illegal migrants do not remain here.”
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