A bold political decision – The new strict bill against illegal immigration

By the STAIKOU DIMITRA

(FREELANCE JOURNALIST , PROFESSIONAL WRITER ABOUT INDIA,PAKISTAN,BANGLADESH
,CHINA AND MIDDLE EAST IN GREEK AND INTERNATIONAL PRESS)

On September 3, 2025, the Greek authorities passed a caller strict legislative model connected immigration, which peculiarly affects the Pakistani community. The instrumentality provides for imprisonment of 2 to 5 years and a good of up to €10,000 for migrants who bash not instrumentality to their state wrong 14 days aft their asylum exertion has been rejected. In addition, the play of detention is accrued from 18 to 24 months and the anticipation of legalization is abolished for immigrants who person been surviving successful the state without documents for much than 7 years.

The Ministry of Migration, done Thanos Plevris, emphasized the precedence of Greek citizens’ rights implicit those who are not entitled to asylum. However, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed concerns that the caller instrumentality could really harm those who are entitled to planetary protection. He called for the implementation of “immediate procedures” to rapidly separate betwixt refugees and others. The Greek authorities has already returned hundreds of migrants connected organized flights, with the purpose of returning them to Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt. Humanitarian organizations impeach Greece of returning migrants who bash not person the indispensable ineligible documents, portion Frontex is investigating 12 imaginable cases of rights violations.

A protestation against the Greek government’s measure aimed astatine curbing amerciable migration was organized by KEERFA (United Movement Against Racism and the Fascist Threat), an enactment known for its enactment of refugees and immigrants, connected September 3, 2025, astatine 7:00 p.m. successful beforehand of the National Assembly, wherever Pakistani amerciable immigrants took the lead.

KEERFA (Movement Against Racism and the Fascist Threat) has expressed beardown absorption to the caller legislative model connected migration successful Greece, which peculiarly affects the Pakistani community. KEERFA argues that the caller instrumentality intensifies favoritism and racist practices against immigrants, portion reinforcing constabulary arbitrariness and repressive policies.

In effect to these developments, KEERFA has organized and supported demonstrations and protests, specified arsenic the march connected 12 October 2024 successful Athens, pursuing the decease of Pakistani migrant Mohammad Kamran Asik successful a constabulary station. KEERFA accused the constabulary of attempting to screen up the incidental and called for the resignation of those responsible. In addition, KEERFA supports the protesters’ basal demands, specified arsenic maintaining the 7- and 3-year migration laws, providing ineligible documents to overseas workers, closing detention centers, and granting asylum to refugees.

The Pakistani diaspora successful Greece seems to beryllium straight affected by the caller migration bill, as—according to information from the Ministry of Immigration—the largest percent of irregular immigrants successful the state travel from Pakistan.

Fearing repatriation aft the instrumentality was passed, the Pakistani Community of Greece Unity (PCGU), led by Javed Aslam Arian, successful collaboration with left-wing parties, called connected members of the Pakistani diaspora to enactment successful the protestation organized by KEERFA (Movement United Against Racism and the Fascist Threat). KEERFA released a poster emphasizing that “the Pakistani assemblage is with america successful protest,” creating a agreed front. The protesters’ main demands were the retention of the 7- and 3-year migration laws, truthful that those who person been surviving successful the state for a agelong clip tin proceed to get ineligible presumption done documentation, the proviso of ineligible documents for overseas workers surviving and moving successful Greece, the closure of migration detention centers, and the proviso of asylum to refugees who are suffering and person a genuine request for planetary protection.

We indispensable present analyse however Greece’s antithetic governmental factions construe the contented of immigrants and what stance they instrumentality towards them. Makis Voridis, erstwhile Minister of Migration successful the Mitsotakis government, has been highly captious of Pakistani immigrants successful Greece, focusing chiefly connected issues of irregular migration and security. In an interrogation with SKAI TV successful May 2025, helium stated: “From present on, anyone who is successful Greece illegally volition ne'er beryllium legalized, volition ne'er get a residence permit.” This connection reflects the Mitsotakis government’s pugnacious argumentation towards Pakistani immigrants, who represent the largest radical of irregular immigrants successful Greece.

Zoe Konstantopoulou, person of the Freedom Movement party, has expressed beardown absorption to the Greek government’s caller legislative initiatives connected immigration, which peculiarly impact the Pakistani community. On July 11, 2025, during a statement successful parliament connected a caller measure criminalizing the enactment of migrants without asylum, Konstantopoulou filed an objection connected the grounds of unconstitutionality, describing the measure arsenic a “legal model for racism” and accusing the authorities of “destroying asylum” and “portraying asylum seekers arsenic superior criminals.”

Konstantopoulou accused the authorities of promoting policies reminiscent of the Orbán authorities successful Hungary, abandoning humanitarian values and reinforcing the rhetoric of racism and xenophobia. Furthermore, she argued that these policies promote the emergence of the acold close and the fascist menace successful the country.

On its beforehand leafage soon earlier the TIF, the paper Avgi, the authoritative paper of Syriza, warns: refugees are “paying the price” for migration owed to right-wing concessions to the acold right, calling for the withdrawal of the measure that “adopts far-right practices.”  portion the left-wing paper Syntachtes’s newspaper, successful an nonfiction entitled “The measure criminalizes refugees and immigration”, criticizes the authorities with the authoritative slogan “Imprisonment oregon Deportation”. It emphasizes that the model intensifies repression, threatens to make societal chaos, and leaves thousands of radical without entree to asylum oregon ineligible In my idiosyncratic opinion, the contented of immigrants, which is presently a blistery murphy successful the hands of the government, cannot beryllium examined successful a simplistic mode due to the fact that it is taking spot astatine specified a hard economical and societal juncture for the Greek radical that it has prompted Elon Musk to tweet astir our state that Greece is presently dying, arsenic 700 Greek schools volition stay closed owed to a deficiency of students.

When discussing the contented of migrant management, we indispensable instrumentality into relationship who the progressive moving colonisation of Greece arsenic a big state is, however overmuch it volition beryllium affected by the influx of immigrants, and to what grade these immigrants are consenting to integrate culturally into Greece. In the lawsuit of immigrants from Pakistan, we indispensable not place the information that these are radical with a debased level of acquisition who could chiefly bash 5manual labour and who person specified heavy spiritual prejudices of Islam wrong them which makes their taste integration into Greece arsenic a big state astir impossible.support.

Neighboring Italy, nether the authorities of Giorgia Meloni, has implemented strict migration policies, including restrictions connected rescue operations successful the Mediterranean and agreements with countries specified arsenic Libya to forestall departures. However, astatine the aforesaid time, it has approved the “Flow Decree” for the play 2026–2028, which increases the granting of enactment permits for immigrants, including workers from Pakistan, with the purpose of filling gaps successful the labour market. In addition, Italy has signed agreements with Pakistan and Bangladesh to combat irregular migration and quality trafficking.

The European Pact connected Migration and Asylum (2024): provides for mechanisms for distributing asylum seekers according to each subordinate state’s GDP, population, and the grade of unit it already faces (e.g., frontline countries). Under the caller European Pact, Greece could judge a little percent of Pakistani immigrants than Germany oregon France, owed to its smaller GDP and population. Therefore, the latest measure to combat amerciable migration is considered necessary, adjacent if it seems harsh, arsenic it brings to caput the illustration of passengers connected an airplane successful a situation situation, wherever each rider indispensable archetypal enactment connected their ain oxygen disguise earlier helping their weaker neighbor.