Greece arrests hundreds of migrants after imposing asylum freeze
The 190 migrants arrived in three groups south of the island of Crete, the coastguard told AFP. A fourth group of 11 people was found near the island of Agathonisi, opposite the Turkish coast. State TV ERT reported one of them was injured and later died in hospital.
The move marks a further hardening of Greece's stance towards migrants under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' centre-right government, which has built a fence at its northern land borders and boosted sea patrols since it came to power in 2019. Greece is experiencing a rise in migrant arrivals from Libya, mainly landing in Crete, the home island of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Over 2,000 people have landed just in July, sparking anger among local officials and tourism operators who have put pressure on the conservative government to take action to stop the flows. The government has declared a three-month suspension on asylum requests from any persons arriving by sea from North Africa.
Earlier this month, dozens of migrants were seen in shocking footage leaping off a boat and running onto a beach in front of tourists on a Greek holiday island. In one clip, recorded at Diskos beach in the south of Crete, a group of asylum seekers were seen crammed in to a small boat as it bobbed near the shoreline.
The concerning levels of sea arrivals prompted a visit by Greece's foreign minister George Gerapetritis to eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar this month. Last month Athens also said it would deploy two frigates near Libyan territorial waters to help stem the flow.
It urged Libya to cooperate more closely with Greece and the EU to stop migrants sailing from there or turn them back before they exit Libyan territorial waters. The North African country has remained deeply divided since the 2011 NATO-backed revolt that toppled and killed longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi.
Human rights groups accuse Greece of forcefully turning back asylum-seekers on its sea and land borders. This year, the European Union border agency said it was reviewing 12 cases of potential human rights violations by Greece.
The government denies wrongdoing. Greece was on the front line of migration crisis in 2015-16 when hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa passed through its islands and mainland.
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