ATHENS: Greece will halt for three months all asylum hearings for migrants arriving on boats from North Africa, the prime minister said on Wednesday amid an uptick in migrants from Libya.
"The road to Greece is closing... any migrants entering illegally will be arrested and detained," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament.
The conservative leader said legislation would be put to a vote in the chamber on Thursday, and that Athens was keeping the EU informed on the issue.
The move came as over 2,000 migrants have landed on Crete -- one of Greece's top travel destinations, and Mitsotakis' home island -- in recent days, sparking anger among local authorities and tourism operators.
Another group of some 520 people were rescued near Crete early Wednesday, and will be rerouted to the Athens port of Lavrio, the coastguard said.
Greece had hoped to stem the flows by reaching out to authorities in eastern Libya in Benghazi, and the UN-recognised government in Tripoli.
But a visit Tuesday by the EU's migration commissioner and the migration ministers of Greece, Italy and Malta backfired badly when local officials cancelled the visit.