Overview

• Video from Saturday shows a small vessel with asylum seekers attempting to land at Sarakiniko beach on Gavdos as beachgoers waded in and pushed it away, directing it toward the port.
• Immigration Minister Thanos Plevri said Monday that officials are arranging the group’s removal and that everyone will depart within two or three days.
• Greece recently passed a law that increases penalties for rejected asylum seekers and accelerates returns to their countries of origin.
• The government has temporarily suspended processing asylum applications for arrivals from North Africa following an uptick in landings via Crete and Gavdos.
• UNHCR warned the new law risks penalizing people in need of protection, rights groups allege unlawful pushbacks, and Greece says it has returned hundreds with more flights planned to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Egypt this month.