Greek Immigration Minister Notis Mittalaki stated on Wednesday (August 11) that the EU cannot cope with the immigration crisis that recurred in 2015 and must work hard to prevent people from fleeing the growing conflict in Afghanistan.
Mittalach signed a letter with ministers from five other EU countries last week, stating that despite the fighting, the deportation of failed asylum seekers should continue, and stating that ending such repatriations “will send a wrong message.”
“This will lead to more people trying to leave and join the EU,” Mitarachi told Reuters.
However, since both Germany and the Netherlands said they would not proceed with expulsion for the time being, the unity of the six signatories collapsed on Wednesday.
Mitarachi said that the EU should provide more support to help Turkey relieve the pressure of more immigrants from Afghanistan, and said that the EU cannot withstand another crisis, such as the one faced in 2015.
“Absolutely not. The EU is not ready and unable to deal with another major immigration crisis,” he said.
Six years ago, Greece was at the forefront of the European immigration crisis. Nearly 1 million people, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, landed on its outlying islands after crossing the Turkish coast dangerously on inflatable boats.
With the withdrawal of foreign troops headed by the United States after 20 years of stationing, the Taliban fighters have achieved leaps and bounds in their campaign to defeat the Kabul government.
Many EU member states worry that more than 1 million people (most of them Syrians, Afghans, and Iraqis) arrived in Europe to seek asylum in 2015, and developments in Afghanistan may trigger a recurrence of the European immigration crisis.
“We are worried about the impact of the deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan, which is why it is very important and very important for the EU to actively prevent such crises,” Mitarachi said.
