Tourists on a Greek island beach were filmed pushing a boat carrying migrants back into the sea after it attempted to land. The incident occurred on Saturday at Sarakiniko beach on the southern island of Gavdos.
The small vessel, carrying asylum seekers from Libya, approached the shore as beachgoers rushed into the water to thwart its arrival. Local media reported that the migrants were redirected to the port for safety reasons, away from the angry crowd.
The event comes amid a surge in migrant arrivals at Greece's southern borders. Greece's parliament recently approved a law toughening penalties for rejected asylum seekers and speeding up returns. Immigration Minister Thanos Plevris stated that authorities are working to remove the migrants from the island within days.
Greece has seen an increase in arrivals from Libya via Crete and Gavdos, prompting a temporary ban on processing asylum applications from North Africa. The ban stipulates that undocumented migrants from countries deemed safe by the EU are not entitled to asylum and must return home or face jail and fines.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's conservative government has taken a hard line on migration since 2019, building a border fence and boosting sea patrols. Human rights organisations have accused Greece of forcibly removing asylum seekers, with the EU reviewing potential human rights violations.
