Undocumented migrants from Bangladesh and other countries in Greece are now at risk of deportation as the government of the European country has tightened its migration related law suspending the registration of asylum applications for three months for people arriving by sea routes through North Africa.
The Greek authorities have taken the move at a time when migrants, including Bangladeshis, enter Greece almost every day from North African countries, including Libya and Egypt, by sea risking life for jobs.
Greek minister of immigration and asylum Thanos Plevris met on Wednesday with Bangladesh ambassador to Greece Nahida Rahman Shumona in Athens, online news portal Greek City Times reported on the day.
鈥楧uring the meeting, Thanos Plevris informed the ambassador about the ministry鈥檚 political priorities, giving particular importance to the need to strengthen the returns of third-country nationals whose asylum applications have been rejected,鈥� the report mentioned.
Asked about the meeting, Nahida told 抖阴精品聽 on Thursday that it was a courtesy call on Plevris on his new assignment as the minister of immigration and asylum.
She said that the Greek authorities had suspended registration of asylum applications for three months for people arriving by sea from North Africa to check 鈥榠llegal migration鈥�.
The Bangladesh envoy, however, said that the Greek authorities were willing to take more workers from Bangladesh through a legal process as Bangladeshi workers had made reputation in the agriculture sector there.
She said that they had discussed it in the meeting that Bangladesh could send semi-skilled workers in other sectors like construction and caregiving as there were work opportunities for them in Greece.
In 2022, Greece legalised 10,000 Bangladeshi migrants under a deal with Bangladesh, she added.
There are about 35,000 Bangladeshis in Greece, mostly engaged in the agriculture sector and among them, about 24,000 are staying legally in the European country, according to officials concerned.聽
For her part, the ambassador of Bangladesh expressed her desire to further strengthen cooperation with Greece in the field of returns, within the framework of the sincere and constructive cooperation between the two countries, the online news portal reported.
The two sides confirmed the excellent cooperation between Greece and Bangladesh in checking illegal immigration, while they also discussed legal immigration, based on the possibilities offered by the framework of the bilateral agreement for the organised and controlled mobility of workers.
The meeting took place in a particularly positive atmosphere, confirming the will of both countries to continue their close cooperation within the framework of joint migration management, according to the report.
On July 11, Greece introduced the 鈥榗ontroversial emergency law鈥�, suspending the registration of asylum applications for three months for people arriving by sea from North Africa, according to media reports.
The Greek government defends the new law as a matter of national urgency. Foreign minister Giorgos Gerapetritis reportedly cited a 350 per cent increase in arrivals, claiming that two-thirds of those entering the country do not qualify for humanitarian protection.
