Dendias criticizes Dublin Regulation, says quality of undocumented immigrants is ‘tragic’

Greek Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias on Thursday slammed the European Union’s Dublin Regulation on asylum responsibility, calling for greater burden-sharing among the bloc’s members.

“We opposed Dublin III… We say we cannot alone carry the responsibility; we must share the burden,” Dendias told Skai radio on Thursday.

Under the Dublin Regulation, EU member states are obliged to take unilateral responsibility for any application for asylum submitted by undocumented immigrants. According to the agreement, an immigrant can only claim refugee status in the particular EU state which he or she has entered first. Greek pressure for changes to Dublin III did not pay off.

In the same interview, the conservative minister said that the quality of illegal immigrants in Greece is “tragic.”

“The migrant from the ex-Soviet Union that goes to Sweden has some kind of level,” Dendias said. “Greece gets migrants from Bangladesh, Afghanistan who have a different culture, they belong to a different world. That’s our misfortune.”