Greece seeks tougher EU migration policies amid fear over Middle East wars

A Greek coast guard vessel is docked at the port in Kalamata (Thanassis Stavrakis/AP)

Greece is seeking stricter European Union migration policies as it braces for a potential surge in migrants and refugees due to ongoing war in the Middle East, a senior government official said.

Migration minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said the government is considering creating detention facilities on the islands of Rhodes and Crete after the rate of arrivals by sea has more than doubled, starting last autumn.