Greece: tougher laws to curb migration?
The Greek government has announced plans to tighten the immigration laws. Illegal residence in the country is to be punishable with up to five years in prison and the maximum period of detention pending deportation will increase from 18 to 24 months. In addition, previous provisions which gave irregular immigrants the chance to obtain a residence permit after seven years in the country, is to be abolished.
A message to right-wing voters
Documento sees the move as politically motivated:
“The government is adopting Trump-like policies and trying to win over the far-right electorate. It wants to counteract the defection of voters from the ruling Nea Demokratia to rightist parties. And the most suitable person for the job is Makis Voridis, who has a strong far-right background. After all, when he took over as Minister for Migration and Asylum, Voridis made it clear that he had 'strong and specific ideological views'. ... The tightening of the rules sends a clear signal.”
Pure populism
News247 is sceptical:
“Greek prisons have the capacity to accommodate 12,000 inmates and are already overcrowded as it is. How is this measure supposed to be implemented? It's simple: it won't be. It's a populist proclamation without substance. But will it have a deterrent effect? Hardly. If you've risked your life and sold everything you owned to pay smugglers to help you flee a poverty-stricken country, you'd rather be in a Greek prison than be sent back.”
Illegality instead of integration
Human rights sociologist Vontiona Vonda writes in Efimerida ton Syntakton:
“The abolition of the possibility of legalisation after seven years of residence exposes the true face of this policy, namely that illegality is a power instrument. This is perhaps the most honest aspect of the draft law: illegality is not a consequence, it is a goal. The state is not failing on integration, it is rejecting it. ... Electronic surveillance, even of those who agree to leave 'voluntarily', is a new form of technological imprisonment. Migrants and refugees cease to be human beings and become bodies to be monitored.”