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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 30 OctOber 2019

Rights groups blast new Greek asylum rules

By DEREK GATOPOULOS cessed or have been re- during a mid-summer surge
THEODORA TONGAS jected as well as plans to in migrant arrivals, said his
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — In- ramp up deportations. new government needed
ternational human rights Greek authorities are strug- to take immediate action
groups and relief agen- gling to cope with a sharp to try to ease overcrowding
cies on Tuesday sharply rise in the number of arrivals at migrant camps.
criticized plans by Greece's over the summer months "I'll be honest: Over the past
government to toughen on Lesbos and other islands few months, my country
asylum procedures to try in the eastern Aegean Sea has been accepting flows
to manage a recent surge where EU-funded camps of refugees and migrants
in arrivals of migrants and are suffering severe over- that are disproportionate
refugees. crowding and outbreaks of to its size and population,"
The groups including Am- violence. Mitsotakis said.
nesty International, Human According to recently re- "Our border islands are Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks during the
fourth EU-Arab World Summit in Athens, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019.
Rights Watch, and Doctors ported EU data , Greece is suffocating."q Associated Press
Without Borders said in a now Europe's busiest entry
series of separate state- point with more than 47,500
ments and at a news con- arrivals this year through
ference in Athens that the Oct. 6, a 29% increase
proposed changes would from 2018. The report said
restrict the right of refugees Greece has received more
fleeing wars in Syria, Iraq than 2.2 billion euros ($2.4
and elsewhere to seek in- billion) in EU assistance but
ternational protection in is failing to make use of a
the European Union. 2016 EU-Turkey agreement
"They are putting up ob- that allowed for the de-
stacles to access the asy- portation of many migrants
lum system which is a basic from Greece back to Tur-
human right. It's moving to key.
mindset of punishment," "Returns of all new irregular
said Gabriel Sakellari- migrants from Greece to
dis, head of Amnesty in Turkey under the (agree-
Greece. ment) is a continuous chal-
"The changes will lead to lenge. Greece has man-
the creation of a large aged to return only 1,908
group of people who do migrants under the (agree-
not have the proper pa- ment), with the pace slow-
pers. They will be even fur- ing and around 100 returns
ther marginalized in soci- this year. This is a major
ety." obstacle to progress, also
The proposed changes linked to the lengthy asy-
are due to be voted on lum procedures currently
in Greece's parliament in place in Greece," the re-
this week, and include ex- port said.
panded powers to detain Greece's conservative
migrants whose asylum ap- prime minister, Kyriakos Mit-
plications are being pro- sotakis, who was elected