 Jomacan, an Afghan immigrant, is seen during a hunger strike in central Athens. AP photo |
Greece is considering using both floating prisons and old army bases to house undocumented migrants, the Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini reported Friday.
“We are looking at military facilities that are not being used by the Greek armed forces ... to provide humane living conditions for immigrants who enter our country,” Citizen Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis was quoted as saying by the daily.
News of the proposal comes amid ongoing controversy over the Greek government’s recently announced plan to construct a fence on the Greek-Turkish border to deter illegal immigration.
“There must be some order. Greece can no longer tolerate the situation: 200 to 300 people enter the country every day without papers,” Papoutsis told Kathimerini.
Greece says approximately 128,000 immigrants arrived in the country illegally last year, the highest figure for any European Union member state.
Papoutsis also admitted that the government was looking into the possibility of using floating detention centers to house immigrants who are arrested. “We must review the difficulties, which include the high cost of the transfer of such a vessel and various docking issues,” the minister said.
Papoutsis’s proposals come just a few days after he announced plans to build a 12.5-kilometer fence near the Evros River in northwestern Turkey, which he suggested would prevent some illegal immigrants from entering the country.
Human rights groups and labor unions have slammed the plan, Kathimerini reported. The civil servants’ union ADEDY and a group called United against Racism and the Fascist Threat have called for a rally Jan. 15 to protest the fence’s construction.
“When we heard about the fence, it evoked memories of concentration camps,” City of Athens councilor and protest organizer Petros Constantinou told Kathimerini. “The government is talking about stopping illegal immigrants getting into the country when some of these people are refugees who warrant international protection.”
“They are trying to turn the Greek worker against migrants by claiming that they are stealing his bread,” said ADEDY board member Despina Spanou. “It is not true.”
Turkey’s chief EU negotiator, Egemen Bağış, earlier said Ankara was not worried by the plans for a fence but doubts it will be effective. “The decision to construct a fence on the Greek-Turkish border is not an act aimed at Turkish citizens,” he said. “But it is not a solution; it will just move the problem somewhere else.”
“We are looking at military facilities that are not being used by the Greek armed forces ... to provide humane living conditions for immigrants who enter our country,” Citizen Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis was quoted as saying by the daily.
News of the proposal comes amid ongoing controversy over the Greek government’s recently announced plan to construct a fence on the Greek-Turkish border to deter illegal immigration.
“There must be some order. Greece can no longer tolerate the situation: 200 to 300 people enter the country every day without papers,” Papoutsis told Kathimerini.
Greece says approximately 128,000 immigrants arrived in the country illegally last year, the highest figure for any European Union member state.
Papoutsis also admitted that the government was looking into the possibility of using floating detention centers to house immigrants who are arrested. “We must review the difficulties, which include the high cost of the transfer of such a vessel and various docking issues,” the minister said.
Papoutsis’s proposals come just a few days after he announced plans to build a 12.5-kilometer fence near the Evros River in northwestern Turkey, which he suggested would prevent some illegal immigrants from entering the country.
Human rights groups and labor unions have slammed the plan, Kathimerini reported. The civil servants’ union ADEDY and a group called United against Racism and the Fascist Threat have called for a rally Jan. 15 to protest the fence’s construction.
“When we heard about the fence, it evoked memories of concentration camps,” City of Athens councilor and protest organizer Petros Constantinou told Kathimerini. “The government is talking about stopping illegal immigrants getting into the country when some of these people are refugees who warrant international protection.”
“They are trying to turn the Greek worker against migrants by claiming that they are stealing his bread,” said ADEDY board member Despina Spanou. “It is not true.”
Turkey’s chief EU negotiator, Egemen Bağış, earlier said Ankara was not worried by the plans for a fence but doubts it will be effective. “The decision to construct a fence on the Greek-Turkish border is not an act aimed at Turkish citizens,” he said. “But it is not a solution; it will just move the problem somewhere else.”
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