Migration minister – Greece cannot become gateway to EU for fleeing Afghans

Greece was on the frontline of Europe’s migration crisis in 2015, when nearly a million people fleeing conflict in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan landed on its islands before travelling north to wealthier European countries. (Reporting by Karolina Tagaris Editing by Ingrid Melander).

On Monday, Mitarachi said that “Greece is no longer experiencing a migration crisis.” Especially, the arrival flows are down 60 pct in the first seven months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, he said.

There was also a 79 percent drop in those hosted on the islands in July 2021 compared to July 2020 and 46 percent drop in those hosted in Greece, he added.

In the first seven months of 2021, 7,114 persons left with destination Europe or other countries via the deportation, returns and relocations of third countries nationals.

In July 2020 a total of 85,618 asylum seekers were hosted in structures managed or supervised by the Migration Ministry while only 46,380 were hosted in July 2021.

As regards legal migration and particularly the Golden Visa, first come the Chinese nationals (69.6 pct) followed by Turkish nationals (6.3 percent) and Russians (5.7 percent).