PASOK MP Nadia Giannakopoulou described the draft as “inferior to the circumstances” and said it bears the minister’s personal stamp. She warned of “very serious risks to social cohesion” and accused Migration Minister Thanos Plevris of targeting people who have long lived and worked in Greece. “You have decided to declare war on our fellow immigrants, on people who have worked their whole lives in the country,” she said.

SYRIZA MP Psychogios rejected what he called the bill’s underlying philosophy, arguing it presents migrants as economically needed while simultaneously portraying them and those who support them as a danger. He said Greece needs clear rules for legal migration routes and faster, more transparent procedures, but insisted that “a blank cheque cannot be given” to legislation containing “retrogressive provisions.” He called for the withdrawal of disputed measures and for a substantive dialogue on integration.

KKE MP Komninaka said the draft exposes the hypocrisy of both the government and the European Union, claiming it serves the demands of capital in the context of “wild geopolitical bargaining on the backs of immigrants and refugees.” She argued the bill lays the groundwork for intensified exploitation, referring to “new sweatshops and new labour Babels,” and cited major worksites, including Ellinikon, as examples of dangerous conditions. She also said the framework paves the way for a broader use of contractor arrangements.

New Left MP Dimitris Tzanakopoulos characterised the bill as a framework that preserves the “instrumentalisation of immigrants” and described it as a “politics of death.” He accused the government of seeking to make people’s lives intolerable. “Make their lives difficult, exterminate them physically and morally, turn their everyday life into hell. This is the policy of New Democracy,” he said.

The criticisms came after Plevris presented the bill’s provisions with rhetoric that opponents described as openly punitive. In earlier remarks, he said the government would cut benefits and urged refugees to work, adding: “Go to work or else get up and leave Greece.” He also supported a measure, linked to an EU directive, that would allow residence permits issued for work to be revoked if the permit-holder becomes unemployed. On NGOs, he said the government would impose harsher penalties when members of NGOs are involved in trafficking networks, and defended provisions that opponents say would create obstacles for organisations active in solidarity and refugee protection.

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