Greece cannot become a gateway into the European Union for Afghans fleeing the escalating conflict in their homeland, Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said on Tuesday, calling for a common EU response to the crisis.
“We are clearly saying that we will not and cannot be the gateway for Europe for the refugees and migrants who could try to come to the European Union,” Mitarachi told state television ERT.
Mitarachi reiterated calls for a common EU response as unity between EU member states over whether to deport failed Afghan asylum-seekers crumbled last week.

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).

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