Greece is concerned that the recent escalation in the Middle East situation may trigger a new refugee surge to Europe, Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos said Thursday in Athens.
In an interview with China Media Group (CMG), Panagiotopoulos said Greece is paying close attention to the recent near-daily exchanges of fire between Israel and the Hezbollah group in Lebanon. He expressed the Greek government's deep concerns over a potential Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon, which may risk dragging the entire Middle East into war and result in the exodus of illegal migrants and refugees from conflict-hit areas.
Greece, as the main point of entry for refugees fleeing into Europe, may bear the brunt of a potential migrant wave, he said.
"The dramatic turn of events in our wider region, like the escalation in Lebanon for example, would probably result in much bigger flows of refugees fleeing war zones. So, obviously, Greece will be affected," Panagiotopoulos said.
Should a refugee influx occur, the minister said, all members of the European Union should share the burdening of taking in the asylum seekers and set up a new mechanism to tackle the problem.
"There is a considerable increase [in] migration flows. That's for sure. I estimated that the flows are about 50 percent higher this year. As a transit country, as an entrance country to the European Union, all countries like Greece should engage in more comprehensive dialog in order to solve the problem. We have to act as one and not in unilateral ways," he said.
From the beginning of the year to Sept. 22, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, had registered a total of 38,452 migrants and refugees in Greece - with nearly 90 percent of them arriving by sea, almost reaching the number reported in the entire year of 2023.
Greece concerned over refugee influx from Middle East amid escalating situation: minister
Greece concerned over refugee influx from in Middle East amid escalating situation: minister
The Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (the GlobE Network) concluded its plenary meeting in Beijing on Friday, with a consensus on anti-corruption law enforcement cooperation approved at the meeting.
The Beijing Consensus on Law Enforcement Cooperation and Denial of Safe Haven for Corruption was passed during a high-level forum of the four-day meeting.
The consensus reiterates the GlobE Network's zero-tolerance against corruption and pledges respect for sovereign equality and differences in laws. It aims to promote anti-corruption law enforcement cooperation to prevent and combat corruption with concerted efforts. "The great differences in political systems and legal systems among countries have posed great difficulties and challenges for carrying out anti-corruption law enforcement cooperation. The Beijing Consensus proposes to establish a secure and encrypted information sharing platform which can promote information sharing while ensuring national security and personal privacy, thus playing a very important role in cracking down on transnational organized crimes," said Guo Yong, dean of the Institute of Discipline Inspection and Supervision of Tsinghua University.
China has organized the "Sky Net" operation for ten consecutive years hunting down corruption suspects who have fled abroad, using extradition, repatriation, and other methods to repatriate more than 13,000 fugitives from over 120 countries and regions, and recovered 63.1 billion yuan (about 9 billion U.S. dollars) in illicit funds.
Currently, China has concluded more than 170 extradition treaties, judicial assistance treaties, and asset return and sharing agreements with more than 80 countries, and signed financial intelligence exchange and cooperation agreements with more than 60 countries and regions.
The National Commission of Supervision of China has also established working contacts with anti-corruption agencies of more than 100 countries, and has promoted bilateral law enforcement agency cooperation mechanisms through high-level leadership exchanges.
Established in 2021, the GlobE Network is the world's most represented anti-corruption law enforcement cooperation platform.
Anti-corruption body GlobE Network passes Beijing consensus
