KIPI, Greece – Weary of illegal immigrants crossing over its rugged borders with Turkey, Greece gets help from EU agency Frontex to search trucks and monitor clandestine crossings. Heartbeat and carbon dioxide detectors are used, along with heat cameras to scan vehicles
[hurriyet.com.tr] Officers from a European Union, or EU, border protection agency used high-tech sensors to search trucks and monitor clandestine crossings along Greece’s frontier with Turkey on Tuesday, as part of an eight-day exercise to help local authorities stem a spike in illegal immigration.
Greek authorities said the EU agency, known as Frontex, has sent 40 officers from 20 countries to work with 165 Greek border guards in the exercise. Border guards from new EU-member Bulgaria are also assisting.
Athens is seeking greater assistance from the EU to help stop immigrants illegally crossing over its rugged borders with Turkey or reaching dozens of islands in the Aegean Sea.
Frontex officers are using heartbeat and carbon dioxide detectors, along with heat cameras and other sensors to scan vehicles, and are watching the border with a surveillance helicopter and aircraft. Officers involved in the exercise, which ends Wednesday, reported the arrest of 12 illegal immigrants during vehicle searches.
"This border region is the hottest area of illegal immigration in Europe," said Gil Arias, Frontex’ deputy executive director. Officials here say smugglers are targeting EU countries that are members of the open-travel Schengen Agreement, allowing illegal immigrants in Greece to move onto other EU countries.
"Frontex has set up a rapid response force to help European Union countries deal with emergency situations," said Brig. Vassilis Kousoutis, director of the police’s department for immigrant affairs in greater Athens.
In 2008, Greek authorities arrested 146,337 illegal immigrants, a 30 percent increase from the previous year and a 54 percent jump from 2006, according to figures from the Interior Ministry.
It said 2,211 smuggling suspects were arrested last year, a 56 percent increase from 2008.
Iraqis make up the largest group of those arrested at the Greek-Turkish border, followed by illegal immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Last week, the U.N. refugee agency criticized procedures in Greece for examining asylum applications, as well as proposed changes to toughen the rules.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, member said the proposed abolition of an appeals board for migrants whose applications are rejected "would deprive asylum seekers of access to an effective remedy as required by EU law."
Source: http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/11692132.asp?gid=244
