Greece drafts tougher law for rejected asylum seekers, PM says

ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece has prepared legislation that will introduce tougher penalties for rejected asylum seekers and speed up returns to their home countries, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday.

The Mediterranean nation was on the frontline of a 2015-2016 migration crisis when more than a million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa crossed into Europe. 

The surge in arrivals triggered calls for countries on Europe's southern frontier like Greece and Italy to shore up their borders.

The numbers have since fallen. But migration remains a politically charged issue in Greece, and Mitsotakis has pledged to toughen his stance.

"Penalties will be heavier for those who enter the country illegally or stay in our country, if their asylum application is being rejected," Mitsotakis told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, which discussed a new draft law on illegal migration.

Mitsotakis said the bill will also aim to speed up returns through a "more effective and fair mechanism". The regulations will need parliamentary approval before taking effect.

Migrant flows to Greece dropped 30% in the first four months of this year compared to the previous year as fewer people entered along its eastern border with Turkey.

But sea arrivals from Libya to the outlying islands of Crete and Gavdos have surged in recent months along a new smuggling route on the Mediterranean Sea. Thousands of rejected asylum seekers are stranded in Greece.

In order to accelerate asylum processes and reduce pressure on asylum systems, the EU's executive last week proposed amending European law to allow member states to deport rejected asylum seekers if they can be sent to a third country deemed safe by the bloc.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Edward McAllister and Joe Bavier)