Greek lawmakers vote on North Africa asylum ban

Greek lawmakers prepared to vote on Thursday on a controversial bill that would temporarily halt the processing of asylum applications for migrants arriving from North Africa, a move that human rights groups have condemned as illegal.

The vote comes amid a sharp increase in migrant arrivals to the island of Crete, and follows the abrupt collapse of talks with Libya’s Benghazi-based government aimed at curbing the influx.

Greece, a major entry point into the European Union for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, has adopted a tougher stance on migration since Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ centre-right government came to power in 2019.

Since then, the country has expanded border fences and intensified sea patrols, particularly in the eastern Aegean.

However, sea arrivals from northeastern Libya to Crete and nearby Gavdos, Europe’s closest territory to North Africa, have surged in 2025, prompting new legislative action.

In response, the government on Wednesday proposed a bill that would bar migrants arriving illegally by sea from North Africa from applying for asylum for three months.

The legislation would also permit the immediate deportation of these individuals without undergoing any prior identification process.

The bill was expected to pass on Thursday, as Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party holds 155 seats in Greece’s 300-member parliament.

Human rights organisations have criticised the legislation, warning that it violates both international and European law.

“Seeking refuge is a human right; preventing people from doing so is both illegal and inhumane,” said the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in a statement.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis defended the measure, calling it “an emergency response to an emergency situation.”

Greece has long faced allegations of conducting illegal “pushbacks”, the forced return of migrants across borders without due process, by both sea and land.

The issue gained renewed attention after a Greek naval court recently charged 17 coastguard officers in connection with one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest shipwrecks two years ago, in which hundreds of migrants are believed to have drowned.