Greece: Migrants on deportation list to wear ankle tags

The Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris told journalists the ankle tag monitoring measure would be implemented before the end of the year, under a series of new reforms introduced by the Greek government, intended to criminalize noncompliance with deportation orders.

“The use of electronic monitoring will make it clear that the options have narrowed,” Plevris explained to state-run ERT radio.

In addition to ankle tags, the Greek authorities will apply mandatory jail terms if a deportation order is defied. All the new reforms will be put before parliament next month, reported the news agency Associated Press (AP).

The electronic monitoring tags will be given to migrants to cover a 30-day compliance period, reported AP, after asylum claims have been rejected and the series of appeals exhausted.

The government is also considering offering anyone who willingly complies with the deportation a bonus of 2,000 euros.

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Measures already resulted in decrease in arrivals, says government

Currently, in response to the increase in arrivals on the southern Greek islands of Crete and Gavdos, with most departures originating in North Africa, particularly eastern Libya, the Greek government has suspended the possibility of applying for asylum for those arriving from North Africa. This measure has been criticized by the Council of Europe and other human rights organizations.

Last week, the Greek government announced that its three-month asylum suspension had resulted in a drop in the number of arrivals. Since the beginning of the year, more than 7,000 migrants have arrived on Crete and Gavdos, compared to just under 5,000 in 2024.

The increase in arrivals began ahead of the beginning of the tourist season, on which the Greek Islands heavily rely, and put pressure on Greece’s conservative government to tighten its migration policy still further.

Since the asylum suspension was announced on July 9, arrivals have fallen to below 900, reported the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP). In addition to the asylum suspension, the Greek government has been threatening to detain migrants for up to two years for illegal entry and up to five years if subsequently caught staying in Greece without permission.

With AP and AFP 

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