Migration in Greece

Due to its geographical location, at the gateway to the Schengen area, as well as to EU legislation, notably the Dublin procedure, Greece is one of the countries where many migrants have transited.

"In 2021, the main arrivals countries of origin will remain the Syrian Arab Republic and Afghanistan, arriving through Turkey, although a significant increase of arrivals from Iraq, Turkey, Eritrea, Somalia, and other African countries may still occur." - UNHCR

Greece & Turkey

Turkey plays a central role in managing migration flows by preventing attempts to cross borders. However, on 27 February 2020, Turkey announced that it would no longer stop refugees trying to cross its borders into Europe, which has been closed since 2016.

Turkey hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees - more than any other country. And since December 2019, hundreds of thousands more people have fled towards the closed Turkish border in Syria’s Idlib Province, where the Syrian government is bombarding civilians with airstrikes. European states and other countries have failed to share responsibility for hosting the women, men, and children who have fled their homes in Syria. Turkey says it can no longer cope with the number of refugees it hosts. An inevitable result of the Turkish announcement was that desperate people who had been unlawfully trapped in Turkey since at least 2016 rushed to border crossings that were newly re-opened - but only on one side. What people found when they arrived were heavily armed Greek border guards, tear gas, rubber bullets, and razor wire.

Due to the situation, on 1 March 2020, the Greek and Hungarian Governments announced the suspension of the right to asylum for one month. Various organizations complained that this was in breach of international treaties like the Geneva Conventions. Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, visited the border, backing Greece’s hard-line and offering €700 million and 100 troops to protect the border. Later, the European Union offered €2000 to each refugee who agreed to return to his or her country of origin on a voluntary basis. Meanwhile, the Greek government announces that it wants to set up closed structures on the islands to accommodate 20,000 refugees. Demonstrations against the construction of this structure by the local community begin at Lesbos. The situation is heating up and fascist attacks are beginning to take place on the islands, against refugees and organizations. With the arrival of Covid19, Turkey announces that it is once again closing its borders. The Greek Government has beginning to impose isolation measures in the refugee camps and they announced the repatriation of 1,600 unaccompanied minors to other European countries and nearly 1,000 vulnerable migrants to be transferred to hotels in Greece.