Is suspending asylum requests right response to curb illegal immigration to Greece?
Is suspending asylum requests the right way to curb immigration?
Athens warns it will now arrest people entering Greece without authorisation from North Africa.
Greece has suspended asylum applications for people arriving by sea for three months.
That has come about after a large rise in the number of people crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to the Greek island of Crete.
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Athens wants to stop their boats from even entering Greek waters.
Human rights groups said denying them asylum is against international law.
So can a change in policy really stop people heading to Europe? Are North African countries able to help in reducing the number of boats? And what are the likely outcomes of this suspension?
Presenter: Adrian Finighan
Guests:
Eleni Spathana – lawyer with Refugee Support Aegean and author of Legal Assistance for Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Greece
Amine Snoussi – political analyst and journalist
Marianna Karakoulaki – researcher at Birmingham University focusing on forced migration on Europe’s Eastern Mediterranean migratory route