Turkey : Greece announces plans to build wall along Turkish border

[Mid]

Greece announces plans to build wall along Turkish border
01/02/2011

Greece announced that it plans to build a wall along its border with Turkey to keep out illegal migrants, according to news reports Saturday

Citizen Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis said "Greek society has reached its limits in taking in illegal immigrants," Papoutsis was quoted by Athens News Agency as saying. "Greece can't take it anymore."

Greece shares a 206-km border with Turkey which serves as a common entry point for illegal immigrants coming to the European Union from Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia.

The Greek minister said the border barrier would be similar to the one built by the US along its border with Mexico.

jpost.com

[TizMe]

Cambodia should do the same to keep out PAD supporters and stupid Thai politicians.

[BobR]

Of course these walls around Europe and America might also be handy to keep people in, should the perceived need ever arise. Several countries are already limiting passports to 5 years (Canada and Sweeden) or placing RFID chips in them, or requiring a passport to visit a neighboring country in which it was not required before.

Maybe I just have an unhealthy paranoia of Government.

[zygote1]

No worries on the fence. Turkey can send a freedom flotilla. Everything is just fine in Turkey according to the Islamic zealot of a president that it has.

[Carnwadrick]

or requiring a passport to visit a neighboring country in which it was not required before.

Maybe one of our more technical competent members could do a pic of a "passport" visiting a neighboring country

[Takeovers]

I just have an unhealthy paranoia of Government.

Very true.

But I do like your postings in general. They do give a different perspective to things.

[Yemen]

Canada has never issued passports valid for more than 5 years.

[Anteak]

Of course these walls around Europe and America might also be handy to keep people in, should the perceived need ever arise. Several countries are already limiting passports to 5 years (Canada and Sweeden) or placing RFID chips in them, or requiring a passport to visit a neighboring country in which it was not required before.

Maybe I just have an unhealthy paranoia of Government.

Aren't new Thai passports only valid for 5 years?

Sweden's reason was to stop them becoming technologically outdated.

[who]

or requiring a passport to visit a neighboring country in which it was not required before.

Maybe one of our more technical competent members could do a pic of a "passport" visiting a neighboring country

BobR's sentence is correct. Your criticism of it is not. If a person took a passport to another then the passport would indeed have visited that country.
.

[Mid]

It's Israel's Fault: The Great Wall of Greece
Amiel Ungar
Thursday, January 6 2011

Despite the country's economic difficulties, Greece will start building a 128 mile wall at the Evros River separating Greece from Turkey. Greece claims that more than 100,000 illegal immigrants arrived in the country last years with many traveling thousands of miles from places as far away as Myanmar (Burma) to seek asylum in the European Union. Since Greece is part of the Schengen Agreement that does away with borders between most countries of the European Union, once the immigrants have made it into Greece they are free to move unchecked throughout most of the European Union.

The immigrants generally claim political asylum and verification is endless. Greece has a backlog buildup of 45,000 cases. The European Union is cognizant that Greece should not have to bear the burden alone and has sent 175 guards from its Frontex border guards to help police the border, but in vain. Greece has not received full backing from the European Union and in fact European Union Commission spokesperson Michele Cercone mildly condemned the plan. "Fences and walls have proven in the past to be really short-term measures that do not really help in addressing and managing the migratory challenges in a more consolidated and structural way.'

But until the consolidated and structural way emerges, Greece believes that it has no choice. Domestically the planned fence was attacked from both the right and left. The right complained that the government had been too tardy in implementing the measure while the Communists condemned it as barbaric and humane. The conservative daily Kathermini dismissed the critics "Those who are opposed to the idea should first come up with alternative proposals on ways to deal with the issue of illegal migration. Most importantly, though, they should also be aware of the magnitude of this problem for a country like Greece, on the threshold of Europe, and especially when it is facing the economic difficulties that it is."

Some critics of the plan feared that it gave concrete expression, literally and figuratively, to the idea of establishing a barrier between Fortress Europe and countries like Turkey. In Turkey itself opinions were divided. Gökhan Sözer, the governor of Turkey's northwestern province of Edirne that borders on Greece, lauded the plan as a practical measure for preventing illegal emigration.

The newspaper Zaman, allied with the Erdogan government, was scathing in its response. It viewed the plan as directed against Turkey and insinuated that it was a payoff for the recent financial bailout of Greece "This wall symbolizes one and only thing -- declaring physically that Turkey is outside of Europe. Maybe the partners who have helped Greece economically have asked for this favor."

Zaman opined that Greece would have to keep out immigrants arriving by boat and would therefore strengthen security measures in the Aegean Sea. This in turn would provoke tensions with Turkey. As part of the current anti-Israeli climate in Turkey, the paper could not resist a pot-shot at Israel in connection with the Greek plan. This plan, said Zaman, was "reminiscent of Israel, which has, in doing so, become a country that has put itself in a prison while trying to protect its borders. Maybe this wall idea came from the Israelis with whom Greeks are now good friends."

israelnationalnews.com

[Mid]

France backs Greek border fence
27 January 2011, Thursday

France's interior minister said Thursday his government supports plans by Greece to build a fence along part of its border with Turkey to combat the EU member country's illegal immigration crisis.

"We support the creation of obstacles to counter immigration pressure," Brice Hortefeux said. "Of course this cannot be compared to the Berlin Wall or anything like that."

Greece is the European Union's busiest transit point for illegal immigration, with figures showing about 90 percent of immigrants caught entering the bloc illegally are caught in Greece. The country is planning to build a fence along a 12.5-kilometer (eight-mile) section of its northeastern border with Turkey.

But the plan has been met with criticism by human rights groups and a lukewarm response from the European Union.

Hortefeux met Greek Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis and said the two ministers also discussed a recent spike in violence by far-left groups in European countries.

France is seeking information on violent groups before hosting G-8 and G-20 summits later this year, Hortefeux said.

"Traditionally, these summits attract protests ... We are looking into ways of sharing information and various preventive measures," he said.

Greece has found itself at the forefront of the bloc's immigration crisis. In the latest twist, more than 200 illegal immigrants have taken over a building of the University of Athens' Law School in the center of the city and are staging a hunger strike, demanding they be legalized.

The action has embarrassed the government, which has promised to take a tougher line against illegal immigration.

Greek Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis ruled out using force to end the Law School building's occupation.

"A political decision has been made - my decision - that under no circumstances will we contribute to the tension, clashes or even bloodshed that certain people may have wanted," Papoutsis said after his meeting with Hortefeux.

Under Greek law, police are barred from entering university or school campuses except under exceptional circumstances. Authorities were negotiating with the immigrants and groups that support them to resolve the standoff.

todayszaman.com

[Davis Knowlton]

Well, the billion dollars spent on "the wall" in America, a project which has just officially been declared a disastrous failure, didn't work real well. Hope they have better luck. And BobR paranoid of government - you're joking...not BitterBob??? Paranoid??? Haha.