Greece to Build Border Fence to Deter Illegal Immigrants

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 6, 2012

KASTANIES, Greece (AP) — Greece will soon begin building a six-mile-long fence topped with razor wire on its border with Turkey to deter illegal immigrants, an official announced Monday.

Thousands of illegal immigrants cross from Turkey into Greece at this point each year, often traveling from there to other parts of Europe.

The official, Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis, went to this border village on Monday to announce that work on the 13-foot-tall fence will start next month and is expected to be finished by September at a cost of more than $4 million. It will stretch from Kastanies to the Greek village of Nea Vyssa, near the northeastern town of Orestiada.

The fence will be coupled with a network of fixed night-vision cameras providing real-time video to a new command center, Mr. Papoutsis said.

Most of Greece’s 125-mile border with Turkey runs along a river known as Evros in Greece and Meric in Turkey. The new fence, which Turkey’s government has not opposed, will block a short stretch of dry land between the two countries.

“Traffickers should know that this route will be closed to them,” Mr. Papoutsis said. “Their life is about to get much harder.”

During Mr. Papoutsis’ visit to Kastanies, about 40 people protested nearby, saying the fence is a violation of human rights and should not be built at a time when Greece is suffering a deep financial crisis that has led to punishing austerity measures and high unemployment. About 200 riot police officers stood by, but no violence occurred.

Three men seen entering Greece on Monday at the point where the fence is to be built said they were illegal immigrants who had fled the violence in Syria. One of the three, who identified himself only as Said, 24, said that they had been walking for seven days, and that he hoped to reach an uncle in Hungary.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/wo...mmigrants.html