ATHENS, Ga. — Greece is considering building a fence along a section of its border with Turkey that is the busiest transit point for illegal immigration in Europe, the country’s public order minister said in an interview posted on his website Monday.
Christos Papoutsis said the fence would be part of an effort to stop illegal aliens from entering the European Union.
“We also plan to upgrade and modernize the Greek Coast Guard and at our land borders to create a fence to deter illegal immigrants,” he said in an interview with Greece’s state news agency that was posted on his website.
“Greek society has exceeded its limit in its capacity to accommodate illegal immigrants,” Papoutsis said. “Greece can no longer tolerate this.”
In a separate statement Monday he said 128,000 aliens had entered Greece illegally in 2010.
Ministry officials said a final decision on the fence had not been made. If built,it would cover a 8-mile stretch of border that does not run along the Evros River - known as the Meric River in Turkey - meaning there is no natural boundary separating the two countries, the officials said.
Left-wing opposition parties sharply criticized the plan. The Communist Party described it as “inhuman and ineffective.”
Last month, the EU’s border protection agency, Frontex, sent a 200-member force from 25 EU countries to the Greek-Turkish border area, to provide Greece emergency assistance. The deployment was recently extended through March 3.
The number of aliens detected crossing the Greek-Turkish border illegally at the site of the proposed fence rose throughout the year and averaged 245 per day in October, according to Frontex data.
Frontex and the European Union did not comment directly on Papoutsis’ remarks.
“We made clear with Greece that the country needs sound and long-term structural reforms and measures to better manage its border, to better address thechallenges linked to migration flows,” EU Commission spokesman Michele Cercone said in Brussels.
“It is important that these borders are surveilled, these borders are managed in order to discourage and interrupt traffickers and smugglers that exploit [illegal aliens].”
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said it was seeking information from Athens about the proposed fence. The regional governor of Edirne, a Turkish border province, defended his country’s efforts to combat illegal migration.
Gokhan Sozer said Turkish authorities had apprehended 11,000 would-be aliens last year.
“Sovereign states are free to take measures they like. But physical barriers can also be surmounted,” Sozer told Turkey’s private NTV television.
“There’s a 200 kilometer river that can be passed with boats in winter and by foot in summer when the water level is low.” Information for this article was contributed by Nicholas Paphitis, Costas Kantouris, Raf Casert and Suzan Fraser of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/04/2011