The public debate on irregular migration in Greece has always been tense and toxic. Undocumented people are called criminals, although not having documents is only an administrative offence. Irregular entry has also been addressed as a crime – and when arrivals spiked, the government called people invaders participating in a hybrid war.
In March 2020, an increase in arrivals at the land border with Turkey in Evros prompted the government to suspend access to asylum for a month. Since then, and because of the change of the political environment in Greece and Europe, the debate has long moved away from calm policy analysis and entered the field of symbolic confrontation, where being tough is presented as a political virtue in itself.
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