The Mitsotakis method: hindering migrants at every stage of their journey

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More importantly, Mitsotakis put the Greek economy on a path to growth. Last August, the country freed itself from European financial supervision after twelve years. And the recovery plan that claimed billions from the corona recovery fund was seen as one of the best of its kind. Mitsotakis, so concluded The Economists recently‘as a polished technocrat, is one of Brussels’ darlings’.

Everything to radiate as much as possible: we don’t want you here

The fact that Mitsotakis has brought Greece back into grace certainly dampens any criticism of the country. In any case, the unwritten rule in Europe is that if you don’t cause a fuss in Brussels, others won’t interfere in your domestic politics — unless you go too far. With a well-functioning economy and a strict migration policy, Greece no longer causes problems. No political problems, at least.

Dark side

The migration policy that makes other government leaders jealous, call it the Mitsotakis method, works as follows. Keep migrants out of the country’s borders, in any way possible. If they do enter the country, you shield them from the outside world as much as possible. And once they do have a residence permit, make it unattractive to stay in the country. Everything to radiate as much as possible: we don’t want you here.

It is also the result of the fact that Europe left Greece to its own devices for years when dealing with the large flow of migrants. While European solidarity with the Greeks failed to materialise, resentment grew among the local population.

And as popular as Greek migration policy is, it also has a dark side. Because of the way Greece tries to keep them out, migrants are dying.

Last week’s boat disaster is not an isolated incident. For example, Doctors Without Borders keeps track of people who leave Turkey on their way to the Greek island of Lesbos, but who never arrive. Teams from this aid organization – the only one still active on Lesvos after discouragement by the Greek government – ​​are warned by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and others when migrants leave for Lesvos and need urgent medical treatment. But often they do not actually arrive after such a report. As of June 2022, MSF has counted 940 migrants of whom every trace is missing.

Several migrants have told Doctors Without Borders that they have been intercepted and forcibly pushed back out to sea on previous attempts to reach Greece. These pushbacks, illegal under international law, have now been extensively documented.

Anyone who manages to stay in Greece will be detained in one of the major asylum seekers’ centers. In these ‘open-air prisons’, as critics call them, conditions are appalling. Megala Therma, a first shelter on Lesvos, sometimes houses up to 14 people in rooms intended for five people. Children and adults are placed criss-cross together. And the center is so remote that, according to Doctors Without Borders, it can take up to an hour for an ambulance to arrive.

For those who have come from Turkey, the Greek government is erecting an additional hurdle for a residence permit: that country is considered a ‘safe third country’. Not only for Turks themselves, but also for Afghans, Somalis and Syrians. People who normally qualify for international protection because they are fleeing a war situation are told to return to the neighboring country.

Since 2020, Turkey has refused to take back these refugees. Because Greece also does not provide them with papers, they seek refuge elsewhere in Europe. For example in Ter Apel.

Depression

For those who manage to get a Greek residence permit despite everything, there is hardly anything organized to integrate, Marina Kanta sees. She is a lawyer at Solidarity Now, an organization in the center of Athens that helps migrants on their way.

And that is necessary too. The International Rescue Committee, a global relief organization, recently released a report on the difficulties faced by Afghan refugees in Greece and the serious consequences for their physical and mental health. Of the 192 Afghans followed between April 2021 and March 2022, 97 percent reported symptoms of depression. Half considered taking their own life.

While giving a tour of the ‘solidarity house’, Kanta talks about an ‘impressive’ working visit she recently made to Amsterdam. “You help newcomers find a house, they are taught to arrive on time, they are given help with their vocabulary. In Greece they are completely on their own.” Because they also receive no help in finding a job, status holders often work undeclared. Without contract, and without rights.

Until recently, Greece still had humanitarian housing for the sick and unaccompanied minors. Kanta, who has meanwhile taken a seat in the playroom for migrant children: “Also abolished. The government says: if we have programs for vulnerable people, you will see that suddenly everyone is vulnerable.”

Mitsotakis will not lose any votes because of his migration policy, Kanta also thinks. “The Greeks say: we have our own problems. We cannot save the world. That is why they are happy with his deterrence policy. They have had enough of refugees.”