Greece suspends asylum applications for migrants from North Africa

Greece will stop processing asylum applications from people coming from North Africa for three months after a rise in arrivals on the island of Crete, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday.

Sea arrivals from northeastern Libya of migrants trying to cross to Europe through Greece’s southern islands of Crete and Gavdos have surged to more than 7,300 this year, according to estimates by the Greek government and aid agencies.

That compares with around 5,000 in the whole of 2004.

“With legislation that will be submitted to the parliament tomorrow, Greece will suspend the examination of asylum applications, initially for three months, for those arriving in Greece from North Africa by sea,” Mitsotakis told parliament.

The spike in arrivals has put pressure on the two islands, which lack organised migration reception camps and have struggled to find temporary housing facilities.

The migrants mainly come from the Middle East and North Africa, including nationals from Sudan, Egypt and Bangladesh.

Greece rescued about 520 migrants off Gavdos early on Wednesday and was taking them to the mainland, the Greek coastguard said.

“Migrants who enter the country illegally will be arrested and detained,” Mitsotakis added.

The Mediterranean nation was on the frontline of the 2015-2016 migration crisis when more than a million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa crossed into Europe.