According to a Greek media report on February 19, an announcement issued by the Greek Ministry of Immigration and Asylum on the same day said that Greece had submitted an application to the European Union Border Police Agency and the European Commission to repatriate 519 migrants currently living on the Greek continent to their home countries of origin.
According to the introduction, these immigrants come from more than 20 countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran and Egypt.
The proclamation points out that these immigrants do not meet the conditions for international asylum. Officials of the Greek Ministry of Immigration and Policy also stressed that a distinction must be made between refugees and economic migrants.
According to the introduction, the Greek Ministry of Immigration and Asylum had previously submitted another application to EU agencies to repatriate 1,450 migrants stranded on the main islands of the Aegean Sea of Greece to Turkey, their country of origin.
