EU to deploy armed patrols at Greek-Turkish border

VALENTINA POP

The EU is to deploy border patrols in Greece in a bid to stop the increasingly high numbers of irregular migrants crossing over from Turkey, days after Athens was criticised by the United Nations over its „appalling“ conditions for detainees.

„The situation at the Greek land border with Turkey is increasingly worrying. The flows of people crossing the border irregularly have reached alarming proportions and Greece is manifestly not able to face this situation alone. I am very concerned about the humanitarian situation,“ home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said in a statement on Sunday (24 October).

Following a request from the Greek government, the EU will deploy its Rapid Border Intervention Teams (Rabit-s) for the first time since their creation in 2007. (more on euobserver.com)