Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris stated on Thursday that Greece may prolong the current pause on processing asylum requests, a measure approved by parliament last month, should migrant arrivals from Libya begin to increase once more.

During July, the centre-right administration halted the evaluation of asylum applications submitted by migrants arriving from North African nations via sea, implementing a three-month suspension aimed at reducing the influx of individuals from Libya to the Greek island of Crete.

During an interview on ERT, the public broadcaster, Plevris stated that he wouldn’t dismiss the possibility of extending the suspension should a “new crisis” arise.

Following the implementation of new legislation, the number of irregular migrant arrivals in Crete saw a sharp decrease, dropping from 2,642 in the initial week of July to 900 throughout the subsequent period.New legislation is being prepared that will clearly define that “whoever comes into the country illegally will face a jail term of up to five years,” Plevris said, referring to those who are not fleeing armed conflict, who could qualify for asylum.

Human rights groups accuse Greece of turning back asylum-seekers by force on its sea and land borders. This year, the European Union border agency said it was reviewing 12 cases of potential human rights violations by Greece.

The government denies wrongdoing.

“All European countries now understand that it is not possible to have open borders, it’s not possible to welcome illegal migrants with flowers,” Plevris said.

“There should be a clear message that countries have borders, (that) Europe has exceeded its capabilities and will not accept any more illegal migrants.”

Greece has sent two frigates to patrol off Libya and has started training Libyan coast guard officers on Crete as part of a plan to strengthen cooperation and help the two countries stem migrant arrivals.

Greece was on the European front line of a migration crisis in 2015-16 when hundreds of thousands from the Middle East, Asia and Africa passed through its islands and mainland.

Since then, flows have dropped off dramatically. While there has been a rise in arrivals to the outlying islands of Crete and Gavdos, sea arrivals to Greece as a whole dropped by 5.5% to 17,000 in the first half of this year, U.N. data show.

(Reuters Reporting by Michele Kambas; writing by Lefteris Papadimas; editing by Mark Heinrich)