The Greek Government has decided to gradually extend a fence along its land border with Turkey and strenghten surveillance measures following an increase in illegal immigration from the east.
The decision was taken during a meeting on Tuesday evening (Greece time), chaired by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and attended by top immigration, security and military officials as part of the Governmental Council for National Security (KYSEA).
“In the meeting the problem of increased pressure for illegal entry, both along the land border and along the sea border in the eastern Aegean Sea was discussed,” the government statement said.
Relevant ministries and the military will be asked to prioritise which sections of the fence should be built first. The meeting also decided to increase patrols along the frontier to prevent the illegal entry of migrants into the country. Greece has already built a 40-kilometer (25-mile) fence in the area of the Evros River, along the northeastern land border, highlighting that Ankara is deliberately sending thousands of migrants who live in Turkey into Greece, according to Kathimerini.
After nearly a million people entered Europe across the Greek-Turkish border in 2015, an agreement between the European Union and Ankara sought to limit the flows, however, its implementation has not run smoothly.
“It was decided to gradually expand the fence along the whole length of the Evros. It was also decided to upgrade and strengthen surveillance systems,” the statement continued.
Mitsotakis also stressed that Turkey is facilitating illegal immigration by sea of thousands of people from the Middle East, Asia and Africa who try to reach the nearby Greek islands in unseaworthy boats. Turkish authorities, and human rights groups, have in turn accused Greece of illegally returning asylum-seekers who make it onto Greek territory without allowing them to make their asylum bids.
In 2020, Turkey said it was throwing open its western borders to migrants who wanted to travel on to Europe. Greece stepped up frontier security to prevent thousands of people from breaking through in the Evros region, and subsequently expanded the existing fence.