Tourists were observed pushing a boat full of migrants away from the coastline as it tried to land on a beach in Greece. The incident, captured on video on Saturday, showed a small vessel carrying asylum seekers from Libya approaching Sarakiniko beach in the southern Greek island of Gavdos. Onlookers at the beach rushed into the water to prevent their arrival, physically pushing the boat back.
Reports from local media indicated that for safety reasons, the migrants were redirected to the port and kept away from the agitated crowd. This event occurred amid a significant increase in migrant arrivals at Greece’s southern borders this year. Recently, the Greek parliament approved legislation imposing stricter penalties on rejected asylum seekers and expediting their repatriation.
Thanos Plevris, Greece’s Minister of Immigration and Asylum, stated on Monday that efforts are underway to relocate the migrants from the island, with the expectation that all individuals will have departed within a few days. The country has witnessed a rise in arrivals from Libya through the islands of Crete and Gavdos, leading to a temporary ban on processing asylum applications for migrants originating from North Africa.
The Greek government’s directive stipulates that undocumented migrants entering southern Europe from EU-designated safe countries are not eligible for asylum and must either return home or face imprisonment for a minimum of two years, along with fines of up to €10,000. Since assuming power in 2019, the Greek conservative administration, led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has taken stringent measures against migration, including the construction of border fences and increased sea patrols to discourage migrant boat crossings.
These strict measures have faced criticism following reports that Greece has repatriated ‘hundreds’ of illegal migrants to countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt. Human rights organizations have accused Greece of forcibly removing asylum seekers at its borders, prompting the EU to review numerous cases of potential human rights violations.