Greece has announced plans to build a 12 kilometer fence along part its border with Turkey to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the border. Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis said more than one lakh people had entered Greece illegally last year. Greece has long complained to Turkey about border security but the European Commission said such fences were short-term measures which did not tackle the root of the problem. The proposed fence would cover a short section of the Greece-Turkey border in the Orestiada area of north-eastern Greece.
According to Frontex, the EU's border agency, the area has become the main route into Greece for migrants from Africa and Asia with an average of 245 people crossing illegally every day in October 2010. The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmstroem, has said the numbers are dramatic. In a statement, Mr Papoutsis said Greece could no longer tolerate this.
No comments:
Post a Comment