Crossing the Mediterranean is hazardous. More than 32 000 are missing since 2014. Refugees who survive end up in a limbo without hope. “The road to Greece is closing… any migrants entering illegally will be arrested and detained”, Greek prime minister Mitsotakis told parliament 9 July 2025.
The European Convention of Human Rights article 2 protects the right to life and prevents arbitrary deprivation of life. Article 3 prevents the return of individuals to countries where they face a real risk of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. The Human Rights are threatened by the lack of solidarity between the European countries.
Over the past six months, more than 7 000 boat refugees have arrived in Crete. Many of them are children and single women. After a crossing the Mediterranean in small overcrowded boats, they are housed in makeshift camps and halls lacking basic sanitation, with no prospects of a future.
The Greek government has responded by suspending the processing of asylum applications for refugees arriving in small boats from North Africa, trying to deter further arrivals. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) emphasizes that “the right to seek asylum is a fundamental human right enshrined in international, European, and national law—and applies to everyone, regardless of how or where they arrive in a country.”
The Greek migration minister is preparing a new bill which would introduce a penalty of three years in prison without probation and a €10,000 fine for anyone refusing to leave the country.
It is not known how many of the refugees who fled from great danger of torture and against their lives in their countries of origin. Many of the boat refugees come from countries where such threats should not be neglected. Sudan’s paramilitary paramilitary Rapid Support Forces is accused of killing almost 300 people in village raids recently. Human Rights Watch report about extrajudicial Killings, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture in Afghanistan.
This can not be seen solely as a Greek problem, but as a failure of the solidarity mechanisms in Europe. The Greek government’s merciless decision must be seen in the context of the EU’s lack of a functioning solidarity mechanism for the distribution of refugees.
In 2020, an attempt was made to introduce a new pact on migration and asylum in the EU as a reform of the Dublin III Regulation. The proposal aimed to establish a “fair sharing of responsibility” within the EU. The proposal was blocked by Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. A renewed attempt was then blocked by Poland and Hungary in 2023. As a result, border states like Greece, Italy, and Spain have had to take responsibility for nearly all refugees crossing the Mediterranean.