ATHENS – Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis said there’s concern that if Israel escalates its war with Hamas terrorists on the Gaza Strip that it could lead to more refugees coming to Greece, already holding thousands, mostly from the Mideast.

“There is always the risk, if instability in the Middle East spreads, and especially if it engulfs neighboring countries like Egypt, which has a very big population, things can become really dangerous,” he told Reuters in an interview.

“We need to be vigilant, we need to come closer together as Europe. (We need) better guarding of borders, combating criminal networks of smugglers, returns for those who do not get asylum,” he said.

Greece is worried that Palestinians fleeing Gaza would want to reach Greece, which is already holding others of them in detention camps and trying to make sure there aren’t Jihadist terrorists among them.

Greece and Cyprus have welcomed Israelis wanting to get away from the war although Israel has delayed an invasion of Gaza where Hamas is holding hostages it seized during a raid into Israel that killed hundreds.

A migration crisis that began in 2015 saw more than a million refugees, most then running away from Syria’s civil war, go to Turkey as a jumping off point to reach the European Union, which closed its borders to them.

In 2016, the EU reached an agreement with Turkey to contain some 4.4 million refugees and migrants, but human traffickers are still sending them to Greece, mostly to five Aegean islands near Turkey’s coast.

Greece has asked for additional EU aid after receiving funding to build new detention camps on islands but the bloc’s leaders haven’t been able to agree on a comprehensive strategy to deal with them.

Plans are underway to overhaul migration rules before a pan-European election next year, after sealing a deal this month on how to handle irregular immigration at times of exceptionally high arrivals, a key demand by southern frontline countries including Greece, the news agency said.

“We need to conclude the new pact,” said Kairidis, who went to Turkey for talks with Turkey’s migration chief on ways to reduce arrivals.

“It’s good to have that crisis mechanism in order to deal with a sudden influx together, rather than divided,” he said, although Turkey had joined activist groups in alleging Greece was pushing back refugees, which the New Democracy government denied.

There are fears the war could lead to terrorist activities in other countries, including Greece, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis went to Israel to give his support in the war against Hamas.

Kairidis said Greece was “at the forefront” of EU discussions for more deportations and returns of refugees refused asylum following deadly attacks in Belgium and France.

He cited the killings of two Swedish football fans in Brussels by a Tunisian gunman in Belgium illegally after his asylum request had been denied. The man reached the EU via the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2011.

“We have an unacceptable situation where, no matter if your application is approved or rejected, you get to stay in Europe,” Kairidis said.

“We spend tons of money and resources in order to evaluate these applications… but at the end of the day this all becomes a mockery.”

He called for a common European mechanism for returns.

“Only Europe together can force countries of origin to take back their citizens, with sticks and carrots,” he said. “Greece alone cannot do it, Belgium alone cannot do it,” he said.