Amid tension between Greece and Turkey, Athens has boosted military presence along the Turkish border where thousands of illegal migrants enter Europe every year.
Greek officials announced they are stepping up security on the land with extra guards backed by a network of powerful surveillance cameras.
The country is struggling with a surge of immigration through Turkey and is now the main point of entry to Europe.
Greek island migrant camps are severely overcrowded and last week the Greek government released details of a plan to set up a floating barrier to block migrant boats in the Aegean Sea.
On the northeastern land border with Turkey, that mostly follows the Evros River, army and police have launched joint patrols while police are hiring 400 more border guards to deploy locally, officials said.
“We have already started the joint patrols,” said Ilias Akidis, police union head in the nearby town of Orestiada. “And installation of the 11 surveillance cameras along the river (will soon be) implemented.”
Greece has already erected a 10-kilometer (six-mile) fence along part of the border where the river veers away, leaving dry land that migrants could easily walk across.
The cameras will be erected on 50-meter (165-foot) high stands, and will each be able to monitor a 10-kilometer stretch of the 200-kilometer (125-mile) border.
“The cameras will cover what we can't fully monitor with personnel in the field ... because it's a long stretch of river,” Akidis said.
*Source: AP
This post was last modified on February 3, 2020 9:48 am