Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris reported that smuggling networks, through text messages in early July—at the time when mass flows toward Crete were recorded—were urging would-be migrants to head to Greece instead of Italy.
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“Do not go there (meaning Italy), move toward Greece, Crete, and Gavdos. It is the safest journey and the country has a flexible framework. So when you also have information that suddenly the networks begin making an aggressive move, won’t you react? You will react—and you will react with diplomacy, with better protection, with deterrence, and with legislation. This specific one,” he stated.
Without going into detail about the senders of the messages, Plevris confirmed to parliamentary reporters that it was a mass message directed at migrants.
The bill is expected to be voted on next Tuesday, while the minister announced that by the end of the year, a bill on legal migration will also be submitted.
Opposition parties described the bill as ineffective and racist.
