Brussels, 04/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 3 December, Greece activated a number of mechanisms to help it to get on top of the migration crisis, having been put under pressure in recent days by rumours of the alleged possibility of removing the country from the Schengen free-movement area.
Although the Greek authorities deny that they would be directly threatened with removal from the Schengen zone, they have just triggered the Rapid Border Intervention Teams (RABIT) mechanism, a decision the European Commission had been anticipating for several weeks. Greece also requested an operation of the agency Frontex on its border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and activated the European civil protection mechanism, according to a Commission press release published on the evening of Thursday 3 December.
More than 50,000 people have arrived in Greece since 1 November and more than 700,000 since the beginning of the year, according to the Commission. The RABIT mechanism consists of the rapid deployment of Frontex border guards at a sensitive point on an external border. In this case, it will be the country's borders with Turkey, with the operation focusing on the islands of the Aegean Sea. In 2010, Greece activated a similar mechanism on its border with Turkey, which allowed it to get on top of a situation which was already delicate back then, the Commission states.
As regards the Frontex operation on the border with FYROM, this will consist of helping the Greek authorities to register migrants. Frontex will start to deploy extra officers and from next week, the agency stated in a press release. Frontex has 83 agents in the identification and registration centre ('hotspot') for migrants arriving in the EU at Lesbos and, in total, 195 agents in the Aegean islands. Frontex went on to stress that of the 775 coastguards requested in October from a member state, with 600 to be sent to Greece alone, just 447 agents have so far been deployed.
Finally, in the framework of the civil protection mechanism, Greece has officially requested tents, generators, beds and sanitary equipment to take care of migrants. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)