The Greek parliament has passed a new, tougher asylum law in a bid to speed up distribution of refugees and expulsion of migrants, despite facing criticism from international human rights watchdogs.
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Parliament voted in favour of the new law after a marathon debate stretching from Thursday morning until the early hours of Friday.
Conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had promised the overhaul of the asylum procedure after he took over in July, saying Greece simply cannot cope with tens of thousands of people stuck in the inefficient system.
"Those who know they do not merit asylum but try to enter and stay in our country will no longer be tolerated," Mitsotakis told Parliament before the vote.
The start of his term has coincided with a surge in migrant arrivals and the overwhelming of camps set up on Aegean islands to process asylum applications.
With the number of arrivals at a two-year high and the processing slow going, the migrant population on the islands has swelled from 14,000 in April to around 35,000 - about six times the capacity of the camps.
The situation in the camps "appalled" the Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner, who on Thursday said Greece must urgently improve the situation there.
The European human rights chief said she was appalled by the unhygienic conditions in camps on the islands - which the migrants and asylum seekers cannot leave.
While welcoming the Greek government's plan to transfer 20,000 migrants from the islands to the mainland by the end of the year, she also urged a change to the policy of keeping the migrants on the islands, warning that overcrowding will otherwise continue.
Mitsotakis says he wants the new law to accelerate the processing and particularly the return of those whose applications are rejected, in line with a 2016 EU-Turkey agreement.
But international organisations, as well as several groups in Greece, criticised the draft bill, warning it brushes off the rights of the asylum seekers.
Human Rights Watch this week said the asylum bill was a "naked attempt to block access to protection and increase deportations in the face of the recent increase in arrivals."
The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, earlier said the new rules "will endanger people who need international protection" and could lead to the expulsion of many back to countries where their lives may be under threat.
Australian Associated Press
