05.07.2022

Detention camps on the Greek islands: A "new era" in EU migration policy? (1/2)

"A new era begins" - This is how the Greek migration minister, Notis Mitarachi, welcomed the opening of the new camps on the islands of Leros and Kos in November 2021. "We are freeing our islands from the migration problem and its consequences. The images we remember from 2015 to 2019 are now a thing of the past."
Double barbed wire, strict entrance controls and surveillance cameras - on the islands of Kos, Samos and Leros, the EU and the Greek government have built prison-like camps for people on the move. Two more are planned on Lesbos and Chios. Particularly problematic: asylum applications are examined here in "accelerated border procedures".
The so-called "Closed Controlled Access Centres" are part of the controversial migration and asylum package presented by the EU Commission in September 2020.

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