Mitsotakis is managing the migration drama on his way to re-election in Greece

The last major migration tragedy in the Mediterranean — the sinking on June 14 in the Ionian Sea, about 80 kilometers from the Greek city of Pylos, of a fishing boat with 750 migrants, including 82 died, and 550 are missing— quickly left the Greek media, despite the proximity of the incident and the questionable response of the Greek coast guard, which may have inadvertently facilitated the sinking of the ship. No one believes it will affect this Sunday’s general election.

The outgoing Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of the conservative New Democracy party, is the heavy favorite achieve victory and achieve an absolute majority in the Parliament, which was the goal he wanted to achieve in the previous elections held on May 21. This new appointment with polling stations is celebrated by a different electoral law which gives a bonus of 50 representatives to the party with the most votes, so it will be much easier for him to form the Executive and thus continue his firm hand against immigration. “We have developed a fair and strict policy of controlling our borders which has caused a 90 percent drop in illegal arrivals,” Mitsotakis said during the election campaign.

“Stories about the death of immigrants in general have almost no influence on public opinion anymore. A few years ago it was different and solidarity and humanity prevailed, but now people have had enough and react to refugees with fear. I don’t think this latest shipwreck will affect the election, even if it ends up proving the coast guard wrong,” says Nikitas Kanakis, president of Doctors of the World in Greece. “Most citizens don’t want to face the difficult debate that comes with immigration and have enough to survive day to day with problems like food inflation or the energy crisis,” says Kanakis, admitting that these issues are less relevant today. the social impact of what humanitarian aid workers would like.

“Mitsotakis’ migration policy has the general support of the population,” confirms Triantafyllos Karatrantos, a researcher at the Hellenic Foundation for Foreign and European Policy (Eliamep).

border control

“Besides the obvious regret for the loss of human life in such tragedies, the majority of Greek public opinion agrees that the borders must be controlled to reduce illegal immigration,” says the expert.. In this position, he weighs the experience of the past years with neighboring Turkey, which used refugee flows to put pressure on Greece and other European Union countries. Even around half of the voters of Syriza, the left-wing party of former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, believe that the borders must be controlled. and not to pass regulations that facilitate the arrival of irregulars, emphasizes Karatrantos.

That means strong public support for his immigration policies Mitsotakis is not bothered by the usual criticism he receives from non-governmental organizations. “In recent years, asylum conditions have worsened, decreased freedom of movement drastically in the centers”, condemns Adriana Tidona from Amnesty International. “The reception camps are now closed and located in remote areas, which has removed the migrants from public view. Greece also has a long history of abuse and violent practices of forced return of migrants by land and sea. We asked the EU to initiate a misdemeanor case against Athens, but nothing was done,” he adds.

He also raised his voice against the heavy hand of Mitsotakis and possible mistakes made by the Hellenic Coast Guard in this latest shipwreck Tima Kurdi, aunt of Alan Kurdi, the Syrian boy who drowned on a Turkish beach in 2015. and whose image shook European consciences. “Building walls is not a solution. Detaining ships to save lives is also not a solution.” Kurdi said in an appeal demanding an independent investigation into the Pylos shipwreck. 180 civil society organizations have joined a petition calling on the EU to change its migration policy.