‘Not a hotel’: Greece mulls less appealing migrant meals
Source: Euractiv
Greece is considering making meals in migrant camps less appealing, the country’s migration minister said on Friday, as lawmakers passed a controversial law temporarily suspending asylum applications.
“I asked for the menu provided in the camps, which is currently hotel-style, to be reviewed,” said Migration Minister Thanos Plevris.
“Our ministry is not a hotel,” he added.
The comments sparked strong backlash in Athens, with opposition parties accusing the government of pushing a far-right agenda to deflect attention from a growing scandal over EU farm subsidies.
Migration has returned to the top of the political agenda in Greece amid a sharp rise in arrivals from Libya. Since the start of the year, around 10,000 migrants have landed on the island of Crete, government data shows.
The new law, adopted by the Greek parliament on Friday, suspends asylum requests for at least three months for people arriving from North Africa. The conservative government said the measure was temporary and due to extraordinary circumstances.
The opposition argues the move breaches both the Greek Constitution and international refugee. NGOs warned the law “punishes people seeking protection.”
The European Commission, however, sided with Athens, calling the situation in Greece “exceptional.”
Meanwhile, a recent EU mission to Libya aimed at easing the migration pressure ended in a diplomatic fiasco after Libya’s eastern-based government declared the delegation persona non grata.
On the sidelines of this week’s Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with leaders from Italy, Greece, and Malta and agreed to re-engage Libyan authorities for a future mission.
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