NY Times: “Greece: The Back Door to Europe for Illegal Immigrants”

Another major newspaper reports on the increasing illegal migration through our Greek-Turkish borders. New York Times published a large article under the title “For Illegal Immigrants, Greek Border Offers a Back Door to Europe,” pointing out that our country is not only a financial “patient” of Europe, but also a problematic geographic region in regard to its loose borders.
“The 126-mile border between Turkey, which is not in the European Union, and Greece, which is, has become the back door to the European Union, making member countries ever more resentful as a tide of immigrants from the Middle East, South Asia and Africa continues to grow.”

Referring to European officials having made negative remarks on Greece’s migration policy and FRONTEX data indicating that a 17 percent rise in illegal migration was recorded in 2011 (compared to 2010), the article adds, “In Greece, one person in 20 is estimated to be here illegally, at a time when the country is sinking in debt, the far right is making political gains and instances of knife-wielding vigilantes taking out their frustrations on immigrants are becoming increasingly common.”
The writer spoke to a number of illegal immigrants he met in Northern Greece and reported the poor conditions they live in and the ease with which someone can trespass our country’s borders, particularly from Turkey’s side, which keeps ‘pumping’ Greece with immigrants.