The Greek government has announced plans to require migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected to wear electronic ankle bracelets so their movements can be tracked in the weeks before deportation.
On Tuesday, Migration Minister Thanos Plevris said the scheme, which will be introduced as part of a legislative package expected to pass before the end of the year, will ensure deportation orders are enforced more swiftly and effectively.
Under the plan, electronic monitoring will be applied for a period of 30 days once all appeal procedures have been completed and the rejection is final. During that time, migrants will be required to comply with deportation conditions or return to their country of origin immediately. Failure to comply could lead to criminal charges.
The measures also include a financial incentive for voluntary return. The government is considering paying a €2,000 bonus to migrants who agree to leave promptly or cooperate with an accelerated return timetable agreed upon with the authorities. Plevris stressed that this would save resources and reduce the strain on detention facilities, while removing incentives for illegal stay.
The legislative package will be presented to parliament next month and will include tougher penalties for non-compliance with deportation orders. This follows a significant rise in arrivals from Libya to the island of Crete in recent months. Plevris confirmed that further, more stringent measures would be brought forward after the summer break.
The announcement builds on the hardline shift in migration policy unveiled by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis last month. Speaking in parliament, Mitsotakis declared that asylum application processing for migrants arriving by sea from North Africa would be suspended for three months. He described the increase in arrivals on Crete and the nearby island of Gavdos as an urgent challenge, stating, “These are events that clearly highlight the European dimension of the problem. Soon, there will also be a reaction from Brussels.”
Two weeks after the suspension was announced, Greek authorities launched a large-scale operation to intercept and detain migrants arriving from Libya. A Coast Guard vessel carrying 247 people apprehended at sea off Crete and Gavdos docked at Lavrio, where they were immediately transferred to detention facilities instead of reception centers.
At the time, Plevris posted on X that the group “do not have the right to apply for asylum and they will not be taken to reception centers,” adding: “We arrest them, put them in detention in closed structures, we start the process of their return. The message is clear.”
The combination of electronic monitoring, incentives for voluntary departure, tougher penalties, and temporary suspension of asylum claims represents one of the most significant overhauls of Greece’s migration policy in years, with the government framing it as both a national security measure and a response to what it calls a broader European challenge.
