Controversial asylum bill goes to Parliament

Greek MPs were presented on Tuesday morning with a draft bill aimed at reducing the number of refugees and migrants trapped in the country by lengthy bureaucratic procedures.
Seeking to speed up the asylum and deportation processes, the Citizens' Protection Ministry legislation, which was tabled late on Monday, has come under fire from rights groups, which also argue that they have not been given enough time to assess the impact of the regulations the center-right government hopes to introduce on tens of thousands of individuals.

If passed, the new system would prevent appeals against negative asylum decisions that are not shown in an official brief to have legal merit, while also scrapping recognition of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a valid basis for an asylum claim, unless it is backed by ample medical evidence.

It would also allow asylum boards'...