GOVERNING IRREGULAR MIGRATION AT THE MARGINS OF EUROPE In the summer of 2016, I encountered a group of Afghans at the Castle of Mytilene, on the island of Lesvos. They had climbed the walls of the castle, brought in tents and settled in for the anticipated long wait. They explained that they had applied for asylum aware of not being wanted in Europe30. When asked if they wanted to stay in Greece they emphatically replied «no» though they did stress that asylum was a way off the islands. Asylum is also a way of being seen by the Greek State, especially for those that feel the system prioritizes and caters more to the Syrians. This has been repeatedly stressed by the Afghans, who feel they are twice unseen by the State, first as irregular arrivals and secondly as Afghans (Dimitriadi, 2017) delegated to the status of the migrant – a term that is acquiring negative connotations instead of denoting simply mobility. The swift and high number of asylum applications after the announcement of the Statement was not surprising: many had already warned the Asylum service it should expect an increase, since realistically this was the only viable option for migrants seeking to either prevent return to Turkey or reach the mainland. It would be wrong to assume that migrants were unaware of the vulnerability of the Greek asylum system or that huge delays would ensue. Migrants who have arrived in Greece during the last two years have been relatively well-informed of what to expect especially in relation to previous years and most were aware of the improvements to the asylum service but also its limited capacity31. In other words, the large volume of asylum applications was not coordinated but it was expected (experts and the Greek asylum service had warned that migrants would apply for asylum) since for many it was the only way to resist the EU-Turkey Statement and the indeterminate detention on the islands. x Conclusions This article has described the hotspots on the Greek islands and their interconnection with the EU-Turkey Statement. Both are part of the broader policy of governing irregular mobility at the EU borders. Both have had significant impact on Greece and the migrants who are directly affected by the hotspots and the Statement. Greece has had detention facilities as well as pre-removal facilities in the past but hotspots are a novelty that transcend the spatial characteristics of a facility and encompass an entire geographical space. The transformation of the islands into hotspots is a new phenomenon. It also contrasts to the Italian model, since the hotspots in Greece are intrinsically tied to the EU-Turkey Statement. Moving the migrants from the islands to the Greek mainland would result in the collapse of the agreement, or at least this is the official line of the Ministry x 30 The Afghans are increasingly facing exclusion in Europe as a result of being considered economic migrants rather than refugees in sharp contrast to previous years. See Donini et al., 2016. 31 See ESRC project, Crossing the Mediterranean Sear by Boat: Mapping and Documenting Migratory Journeys and Experiences, available at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/ research/researchcentres/irs/crossingthemed/output. – 91 –