Court of Justice of Immigration: Breaking news sparks tensions among delegations

At the Court of Justice of Immigration, breaking news interrupted the discussions, reporting that a child and her mother were being detained on a Greek island after being misidentified as illegal immigrants by Greece’s AI facial recognition system. This information triggered tensions among the delegations, and the question of whether Greece was at fault became the subject of intense debate.

Syria initiated the debate by strongly urging other delegations to consider the European Union’s tendency to criticize other countries for such mistakes—except when the issue originates within its own borders. Mali expressed its disappointment with the Greek government and raised concerns about transparency, as well as citizens’ fundamental right to privacy.

Germany intervened by pointing out that there are around 30 million undocumented migrants in Europe, compared to only 21,000 in Greece. Greece and Germany both argued that European nations have the right to protect their borders in order to ensure national security. “We have every right to use new technological tools to guarantee the safety of our citizens,” declared the Greek delegation.

Syria, maintaining a confrontational stance, questioned Greece about the criteria used for profiling, noting that the data originates largely from Western countries. Fearing stereotyping and racial profiling, Syria and Mali stressed that there is no need to rush the implementation of such technologies while they remain unreliable. Greece responded that the system is an efficient tool, not intended to discriminate, but to manage and prevent irregular migration flows.