A terrible human cost

One EU policy Britain is happy to emulate: forcing back refugees

- Daniel Trilling

If you want to see what UK prime minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives hope to achieve with their "stop the boats" policy - and the brutal reality that underlies it - look to Greece. The country's rightwing prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is riding high, having surprised pundits with the scale of his victory over the left in last month's general election. Mitsotakis has convinced many voters that he is returning Greece to stability and part of the pitch is his claim to have all but ended refugee boat crossings from Turkey.

At a campaign event on 12 May, Mitsotakis claimed his government had reduced "irregular" arrivals by 90%.

The choice of location was significant: he was speaking amid the ruins of Moria, the chaotic, filthy refugee camp that sprang up on the Aegean island of Lesbos during Europe's refugee crisis, and which burned down in 2020. Today, with the government building a network of "closed" camps to house those who do still arrive, it appears order has been restored.