A 27-year-old man who posted social media videos encouraging compatriots to travel illegally to Nafplio, Greece, has been deported from Athens back to Bangladesh. The administrative removal process was completed on Wednesday after a flight transported him alongside 50 other Bangladeshi nationals.
The case came to light in June when the individual appeared in a video recorded in Nafplio urging undocumented migrants to head to the area. In the footage, he claimed jobs were readily available and assured viewers that police would not conduct checks, even if individuals remained in the country without legal papers for decades, reports Protothema.
The post triggered an immediate response from Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum Thanos Plevris, who warned that such videos spread false information regarding migration policy and risk being exploited by human trafficking networks to lure illegal migrants into the European Union.
Following the video’s release, the Hellenic Police identified the Bangladeshi national and opened a case file against him, whilst Minister Plevris ordered legal proceedings to revoke his residence permit and deport him. The official revocation of his residence permit was announced on 26 June.
Despite successive rejections of his applications for international protection, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) operating in the migration field provided him with legal representation. Two lawyers representing the NGO engaged in legal actions to secure his right to remain in Greece until the final moment, submitting a third asylum application which was ultimately rejected. Although exercising legal rights is part of the established asylum process, Greek authorities viewed these legal actions as efforts to prolong the individual’s stay.
For the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum, the outcome holds distinct symbolic significance, demonstrating the state’s capacity to execute return procedures despite repeated appeals. Minister Thanos Plevris cited the case as a typical example of ministry policy designed to prevent foreign nationals from remaining in the country once competent authorities have definitively established that legal requirements are not met.
The deportation forms part of Greece’s broader strategy to tighten migration policy through accelerated asylum evaluations, curbing abusive procedures, and increasing actual returns.
Additional measures include a stricter legislative framework on illegal entry and stay, allowing eligible foreign nationals to choose return to their home country instead of serving a prison sentence, alongside strengthened cooperation with origin countries on readmission and participation in European return mechanisms.
Figures for the first half of 2026 show total returns reached 2,638—a 20 per cent rise compared to 2,207 in the corresponding period of 2025—while forced deportations increased by 41 per cent, rising from 915 to 1,292.
