The UK and Greece are recycling racist border policies of the past decade and pretending they’ll work this time.
On July 10, Thanos Plevris, the Greek minister for migration, announced new legislation that would effectively deny asylum to those who reach the Greek shores following a treacherous journey through the Mediterranean from Africa. “Greece will not tolerate the uncontrolled entry of thousands of irregular migrants from North Africa,” Plevris said during an interview. Reactions against Greece’s new legislation were immediate: Human rights organisations described it as illegal and called for its withdrawal. The Plenary of Greek Bar Associations emphasised that denying the right to asylum is a violation of international and EU legislation.
On the same day, but on the other side of the continent, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer outlined a “ground-breaking deal” with France, which he said would target small boats and smuggling gangs and send “a clear message that these life-threatening journeys are pointless”. The UK-France deal has been criticised by all sides of the political spectrum. Organisations such as Doctors Without Borders called it “reckless”, “ill-fated” and “dangerous”, while the Migrants’ Rights Network emphasised that the new agreement will not prevent people from trying to cross to the UK.
