Greece is working with another four European Union members to set up detention centers for deported migrants outside Europe, most likely in Africa, Migration Minister Thanos Plevris said Wednesday.
Plevris told state ERT television that the process of repatriating migrants who have been refused asylum has so far proved problematic as more people enter Greece than can be deported and some countries refuse to take back their nationals.
He said Greece is cooperating with Germany, Austria, The Netherlands and Denmark to set up facilities outside the EU, “preferably in Africa.” Plevris said people whose asylum bids are rejected would be sent to such centers if their countries of origin won’t take them back.
“When someone knows that they will be returned to a detention center in a third country, that acts as a deterrent,” he told ERT. Human rights groups have denounced similar plans by other European countries.
Plevris also warned that even people granted protected status in Greece can’t count on retaining it for ever if conditions change in their countries of origin. Asylum “is not a life-long status,” he said. Plevris added that he has asked asylum authorities to review the protected status of people who have been arrested on suspicion of breaking the law – but not convicted – or when the grounds for their successful asylum applications are no longer applicable.