“A condition for the international protection of refugees to work is the return to the countries of origin of those whose requests are rejected”, emphasized the Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Dimitris Kairides with his post on the X platform, while pointing out that “the crisis in the Middle East has heightened the sense of urgency for the adoption of common and effective immigration policies at the European level.”

Specifically, as noted by Mr. Kairides, “the Council of Ministers of the EU on Immigration is being held today in Luxembourg. Last night, as soon as I arrived, I met with the group of the European People’s Party, to which the ND belongs, and it consists of my counterparts from the rest of Europe and the vice-president of the European Commission, Mr. Margaritis Schina.

We agreed that in today’s Synod we should insist on the question of returns of those whose asylum applications are rejected. As I explained, a condition for the international protection of refugees to work is the return to the countries of origin of those whose requests are rejected.”

He added that “today returns are few and must be increased through a common European mechanism that will coordinate and compel countries of origin to take back their citizens. Thus, a powerful deterrent message will also be sent to traffickers’ circuits and flows will be de-escalated. Unfortunately, at the moment the European Parliament has not completely aligned with this self-evident position and we need our own pressure, in view of the conclusion of the negotiation for the new Migration and Asylum Pact of the European Union”.

The Minister of Immigration and Asylum noted that “the second important thing is Mr uncompromising fight against smuggling. A landmark is the big conference in Brussels against trafficking on November 28. The European Union must go after all those involved in the illegal trafficking circuit, such as the manufacturers of cheap inflators.”

“The crisis in the Middle East has increased the sense of urgency for the adoption of common and effective immigration policies at the European level. Greece, which is at the forefront of the problem of illegal immigration and has managed to manage it much better than many other countries, plays an active role in the wider European debate with numerous bilateral contacts in close coordination with the European Commission”, he concluded.