Greece will stop processing asylum applications of people coming from North Africa, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday, amid a surge in migrant arrivals.

Greece, one of the main gateways into the European Union for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa, has taken an increasingly tough stand on migration since Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' centre-right New Democracy came to power in 2019, building a fence at its northern land borders and boosting sea patrols in the east.

Greek lawmakers voted on Friday to temporarily stop processing asylum requests from migrants arriving from North Africa by sea in a bid to reduce arrivals into Europe's southernmost tip, a move rights groups and opposition parties have called illegal.