Right-wing Greek MP expelled from party over racist comments on migrant boat

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Spilios Kriketos said Greece ‘cannot tolerate more migrants’ and charged them with theft, days after the tragic boat incident that claimed the lives of at least 78 people.

104 people have been rescued after Tuesday’s tragic sinking in Greek waters [Getty]

A right-wing Greek parliamentarian has been expelled from the party of former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a candidate for a second term in next weekend’s elections, for racist remarks after the mass drowning of migrants.

The Greek coast guard continued its search for survivors of the sinking of a boat carrying migrants which left at least 78 dead on Tuesday night.

Hopes of finding survivors are fading “minute by minute”, officials say.

The coastguard has so far rescued 104 people from the boat which rescuers said was carrying “hundreds” of migrants.

While condemning the “tragic” loss of life, including “children”, Spilios Kriketos, a deputy from Mitsotakis’ New Democracy (ND) party, said on Thursday that Greece “cannot tolerate more migrants”. , in an interview on YouTube channel Kontra.

He then accused the migrants of theft.

On Friday, ND said it kicked him out.

“Opinions such as those expressed by Spilios Kriketos have no place in our party,” the party said in a statement.

“Statements of hatred and racism are not part of the party’s values.”

Kriketos is running in the June 25 parliamentary election that follows Mitsotakis’ top spot in the May polls, which nonetheless left him without a clear parliamentary majority.

The main left-wing opposition party, Syriza, on Friday called the remarks “racist” and called on the ND to expel Kriketos.

Mitsotakis’ former conservative government, in power for four years from 2019 to 2023 and credited with winning the May 25 election, followed a strict immigration policy and emphasized “security” and the border locking.

Greek media and NGOs have repeatedly accused Greece of carrying out “illegal” deportations of migrants in the Aegean Sea, a charge denied by the previous government.

“New Democracy implemented a strict but fair immigration policy, guarding the borders but protecting human life and saving thousands of people who were in danger at sea,” the party said.

Relatives of migrants aboard the ill-fated ship have arrived in Greece in recent days trying to find out the fate of their loved ones.

A victim identification unit has been set up at the Ministry of Migration in a southern suburb of Athens.

He will receive relatives of the victims and carry out DNA tests, a ministry statement said on Friday.

The unit will be open daily with interpreters available who speak English, Arabic, Pashto and Urdu, he added.

Relatives and activists said at least 125 Syrians were on board the migrant ship that sank off Greece.

Officials say the migrants had departed from Libya to Italy.

The survivors are mainly from Syria, Egypt and Pakistan.

The United Nations has called for thorough investigations into the sinking of the migrant boat and urgent action to prevent further tragedies.

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