European Commission paves the way for the return of thousands of immigrants to Greece

Greece faces a new danger in accordance with the ‘ Back to Schengen’ roadmap presented by European Commission which includes concrete steps needed to return order to the management of the EU’s external and internal borders.

As the roadmap mentions, Member States must grant access to asylum procedures for all applications made at their borders. The decision about which Member States is responsible for handling that application should then be taken in line with EU law, in particular the existing Dublin system. This means that there must be a real opportunity to return asylum seekers to the first country of entry. The Commission therefore envisages presenting its Commission assessment of the possibility of resuming Dublin transfers to Greece before the June European Council.

This decision paves the way for the return of thousands of immigrants to Greece, since European countries, such as Germany, have declared their intention to let only refugees stay in their country.

The Commission has estimated that a full re-establishment of border controls within the Schengen area would generate immediate direct costs of between €5 and €18 billion annually (or 0.05%-0.13% of GDP). These costs would be concentrated on certain actors and regions but would inevitably impact the EU economy as a whole.

Regarding Greece, the Commission says the external border in Greece is under immense pressure and there is an immediate need to address the current shortcomings in border management.
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