Greece wants to build a floating fence in the Aegean Sea to keep out boat migrants. The Greeks want to see if they can use this fence to stop migrants trying to reach the Greek islands from the Turkish coast.
The fence should reach the sea at the north of the island of Lesbos. The intention is that it will be about 2.7 kilometers long, and that it will protrude fifty centimeters above the water surface. By marking the gate, the obstacle must also be visible at night.
The Greek Ministry of Defense has invited contractors to submit a draft within three months. Around € 500,000 has been set aside for the project. Four years of maintenance are included in this amount.
Protests
The Minister of Defense speaks of an emergency intervention to keep migrants out. Many enter Greece via Turkey. It mainly concerns refugees from Syria and Afghanistan who flee the violence in their home country, writes the BBC.
The 2016 Turkey deal was supposed to end the influx of migrants. Nevertheless, the route over water has recently become popular again among migrants, which has led to protests among the local population on the Greek islands. Nearly 60,000 migrants made the crossing last year. That is twice as much as in 2018, according to figures from the UN.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees criticizes the Greek intention and wants Greece to do more to speed up asylum procedures. For example, the Moria refugee camp on Lesvos is currently overcrowded. Aid organizations warned earlier about the extremely poor living conditions in the camp.
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