Brussels, 23/08/2011 (Agence Europe) - Greece will shortly confirm its plans to close its border with Turkey in an effort to prevent illegal migrants from entering the country, the Greek Ministry for Citizen Protection announced on 5 August, according to AFP. The end of September was suggested for the launch of procedures.
The plan to put in place a “wall”, which was first announced in January, was given a frosty reception by the European Commission, which believes the idea to be counter productive, but received the support of a number of member states.
Under pressure from the flow of illegal migrants from Turkey and having already been slated for the failings of its asylum system, Greece intends to build two parallel barbed wire fences, each 10.3 kilometres long and between 2.5 and 3 metres high, AFP goes on to say. The fence is to be built along the line of the border near Kastanies, the route most commonly used by migrants to cross the river Evros. According to the ministry, the plans will be jointly financed by the European Union External Borders Fund and will cost €5.498 million.
The 150-kilometre long Greek-Turkish land border was long the main point of entry for migrants into the EU, with almost half of all illegal entries detected, but was overtaken at the start of 2011 by the Italian island of Lampedusa, where thousands of migrants, Libyan in the main, arrived after the uprisings in North Africa.
Turkey has never shown any opposition to the plan but, from the start, the European Commission took the view that it could be no more than a short-term solution and could in no way be seen as a structural way of addressing the issue of illegal immigration.
When contacted on Tuesday 23 August, the staff of the commissioner responsible for this matter, Cecilia Malmström, repeated their point of view: the Commission is not convinced that “focussing” on a specific part of the border will deliver lasting responses to the challenges faced by Greece, a spokeswoman said.
The Commission points out, too, that, while it has not so far identified any contradiction with Community or international law, any border management measures put in place by member states must fully comply with EU law and international principles, such as those of “non-refoulement” and the rights of migrants in need of international protection.
With regard to the co-financing of the “wall” referred to buy Greece, the Commission adds that, though a request has indeed been made by Athens, no decision has yet been taken. (S.P./transl.rt)