ATHENS

Greece is pushing for stricter EU-wide policies in dealing with migration, media reports said Tuesday.

“The EU needs to prioritize deportations and create pre-departure holding centers outside the bloc if it wants to curb migrant inflows,” Migration Minister Thanos Plevris told his counterparts during an informal meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers in Copenhagen, according to the Kathimerini newspaper.

“The return of illegal migrants must be our top priority. The message must be clear: If you enter Europe illegally or your asylum application is rejected, you have no right to remain and must return to your country,” he said.

Regarding the controversial proposal of “return hubs” in third countries like Italy created in Albania, Plevris argued that those facilities should be located “not just outside the EU, but beyond the European continent.”

Particularly on the spike in migrant influx from Libya to Greece’s Crete, he said, “In Crete alone, around 1,000 people attempt to enter Greece daily. In Libya, there are 3 million migrants who are waiting to find an opportunity to make it to Europe.”

Plevris added: “We need both EU-wide and national solutions.”​​​​​​​