Greece may extend North Africa asylum ban if migrant flow resurges

FILE PHOTO: Children play near tents as recently arrived migrants shelter at a temporary camp set up on a soccer pitch in the region of Rethymno on Crete island, Greece, June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis/File Photo

ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece could extend a suspension on examining asylum applications passed by parliament last month if migrant flows from Libya start rising again, Migration Minister Thanos Plevris said on Thursday.

In July, the centre-right government stopped processing asylum requests from migrants arriving from North Africa by sea for at least three months in an effort to curb arrivals from Libya to the Greek island of Crete.