Duties Migration and asylum took over Thanos Plevrisat a time that is considered extremely critical due to increased migratory flows.

Coming to the Presidential Palace for swearing -in this morning, Mr Plevris said he would continue the policy already launched by his predecessor, Makis Voridis, who had completed the processing of a new stricter bill on immigration policy.

According to the Minister’s statements, the draft law provides for the tightening of the framework for illegal immigration, with a key focus that no immigrants who enter the country illegally will be able to be legalized. As he said, “the seven -year regulation is abolished”, which has so far allowed the legalization of a person who had remained in the country for seven consecutive years.

At the same time, the return system is strengthened, with the aim of faster removal of those who do not meet the conditions of stay. As Mr Plevris pointed out, “the message we send is clear: Anyone who enters the country illegally will not be legalized and will not be entitled to asylum”.

The message is directly aimed at traffickers and circuits of slaves, as – as he emphasized – the aim is to prevent new irregular arrivals and degrade the expectation of legalization through stay.