Greece Passes EU Migration Pact Law to Accelerate Asylum Returns

The Greek parliament approved legislation to implement the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, creating a faster procedure for returning rejected asylum seekers. The law allows transfers to return hubs in third countries after bilateral agreements are concluded, with Greece coordinating joint centres alongside the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Austria and consulting two unnamed African states.

The measure introduces mandatory pre‑checks at EU external borders, expanded biometric data use and tighter timelines for asylum decisions, aiming to distinguish genuine refugees from other migrants within twelve weeks. Officials reported a drop in pending asylum cases from roughly 142,000 in 2019 to about 28,000 now, and irregular arrivals have fallen from over 1.2 million in 2015‑19 to around 198,000 since 2019. Arrivals to Crete and other eastern Aegean islands fell 30 % in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. Human‑rights groups warned the new framework could enable abuses.