The European Union's top migration official, Ilva Johansson, asked Greece to stop the "violent" deportations of migrants or risk losing funds.
After becoming one of the main destinations during the 2015 migrant crisis, the country, Reuters reports, has toughened its policy since last year, increasing land and sea patrols, expanding a border fence and building camps with much tighter security on islands near Turkey.
Athens, the paper continues, has repeatedly denied accusations of so-called pushbacks of asylum seekers, saying it intercepts boats at sea to protect its own and the European Union's borders.
The stern message
"Protecting the EU's external borders from illegal entry is an obligation. Violent and illegal deportations of migrants must stop now," the Home Affairs Commissioner said after meeting with Greek government ministers.
She said Athens would implement a new system to safeguard fundamental rights from September, without giving further details of the new system to the public.
"Funding is linked to the proper implementation of EU fundamental rights," Johansson added meaningfully.
The country made clear last month that it would not allow illegal entry of migrants by land or sea, following an increase in entry efforts through its Aegean islands and land border with Turkey.
Mitarakis' "accusation"
In a speech to MEPs on Monday, Greek Immigration Minister Notis Mitarakis said the EU must do more to ensure that illegal slave boats do not pass through Turkey into Greece.
"Greece would expect an even more active role of EU institutions to call on Turkey to respect its commitments," he said. "According to a significant number of testimonies from asylum seekers, the Turkish authorities are actively encouraging illegal departures."
In recent weeks, Greek authorities have said they have prevented a significant number of people from entering.
Some 47,000 people have arrived by sea in Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta so far this year, according to the UNHCR.
Mediterranean countries expect more than 150,000 arrivals this year, as food shortages caused by the conflict in Ukraine threaten increased arrivals from Africa and the Middle East.
Source: in.gr
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