UK Parliament: Home Affairs Select Committee: Implications for the Justice and Home Affairs area of the accession of Turkey to the European Union
Prepared 1 August 2011
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In 2010, more than 100,000 illegal migrants were arrested at the Greek borders, including the border with Albania. Prior to the Frontex Rapid Border Intervention Team operation at the Greek-Turkish land border, up to 300 illegal migrants were entering Greece every day by this route; the number has since fallen to 100-120.
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In terms of people smugglers, out of 93 facilitators identified in 2009, the highest proportion were Bulgarian (30), Greek (19) or Turkish (15). In 2010, there were 28 Turkish facilitators out of a total of 73. The overall reduction in the number of people smugglers arrested in 2010 was partly because the modus operandi of the traffickers has changed. In 2010, the Evros authorities observed the development of a new route of irregular migration, whereby migrants make use of cheap flights from North Africa to Istanbul, then travel on to Greece. ...
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Since November 2010, there has been a marked improvement in interventions from the Turkish authorities before migrants cross the border. The Frontex operation is not doing anything significantly different from the role performed by the Greek authorities, apart from providing increased personnel and provision of technical assistance in the form of cameras, helicopters and so forth. However, its presence has put pressure on Turkey to act. The Greek authorities have noticed a military presence on the Turkish border which was not there prior to the Frontex operation, Turkish border stations are now manned continuously, and new informal cooperation has started between the Greek and Turkish military. They have also noticed a reduction in corrupt dealings between Turkish officers and people smugglers.
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It is very muted criticism and too diplomatic, as Western imperialist states like the United Kingdom have always abetted and enabled the second class imperialism of Turkey. However, the report acknowledges that the presence of Frontex has almost cut down by a third the number of migrants crossing from Turkey to Greece via the Evros river, from 300 a day to 100-120. It also admits that the corrupt Turkish military has dealings with smugglers and they have noticed a reduction in these double deals, now that Frontex is present to witness it. It also acknowledges that migrants from North Africa actually prefer to transit to Istanbul to cross into Europe instead of plying the closer and more porous Mediterranean coastline of France, Spain or Italy. Turkish legislators legally and carefully engineered their country becoming an illegal immigrant hub, to fill Europe with Mahometans and earn black funds:
NYTimes: For Illegal Immigrants, Greek Border Offers a Back Door to Europe
July 14, 2012
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But the last staging area for most immigrants is really Istanbul, the teeming Turkish city that is a magnet for those who have often walked for months through the wilds of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.
Turkey has come under criticism because of its liberal visa requirements, which make it easy for immigrants to legally enter the country and then move on. Citizens of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Syria and Iran, among many other nations, do not need a visa to enter the country.
Once in Turkey, they share crowded apartments and try to find work and save enough to pay smugglers for false papers and passage across the border.
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