Illegal migrants will be deported, minister says

All illegal immigrants in Greece will either be forcibly deported or voluntarily sent back to their own country through a process that will include a subsidy, Citizens’ Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis revealed in an interview with the weekly newspaper “To Vima” published on Sunday.

“The country cannot cope with all the migrants that are here,” he emphasised.

Concerning the issue that arose with the smuggling of migrants into an Athens Law School building so that they might hold a mass hunger strike, Papoutsis said that some people were striving to create a united “front” between those defending university asylum and those supporting the migrants’ cause. He accused the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYN) party of being involved, saying that members of the party’s youth group had been among those that facilitated the migrants’ entry into the law school building.

Papoutsis also commented on the issue of terrorism, noting that among those arrested were young people that had never previously come to the attention of authorities, which should not now allow themselves to feel complacent that all the terrorists were behind bars.

The minister also criticised the civil disobedience movement that had arisen, with people refusing to pay increased road tolls and public transport fares.

“Disobedience is a political action and requires exposure and a political reaction,” he said, noting that those investing in mayhem bore “grave political responsibility”.

“What do they mean ‘I won’t pay, I won’t pay’ from road tolls to taxes? What are they aiming at? The failure of the efforts of the government and the people? To a dead end? To conflict and violence?” the minister added.