Greece to Build 120km Trench to Cut Illegal Immigration

Illegal immigrants are seen in a detention center in Kyprinos, in the region of Evros, at the Greek-Turkish borders, on 05 November 2010. A contingent of border police sent by Frontex is policing a strip of the Greece-Turkey border. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Greece plans to build a 120-km trench on the border with Turkey to stem the flow of illegal immigrants to the European Union.

According to an August 04 publication of Greek newspaper To Vima, as cited by Bulgarian Sega daily, the trench will be seven meters deep and 30 meters wide and will run along the Maritsa River, which forms the Greek-Turkish border.

The area is reported as the most common overland entry point for illegal immigration to the EU.

The European Union border guard Frontex has reported that 48 000 illegal aliens enter the EU through this territory, including illegal immigrants and refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine.

According to unofficial statistics, a total of 128 000 undocumented immigrants managed to set foot in Greece in 2010, highest for any European Union member state.

Earlier on, Greece planned to build a 12.5-km fence along a section of the north-eastern border with Turkey, but the plan was met with opposition from leftists and human rights organizations, including the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).

The plan to build a trench has already come under fire from German human rights organization Pro Asyl, which stated that "Such actions only increase the tribute paid by refugees crossing the border".

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