EU sends specialist rapid intervention team to Greece border to block illegal immigrants crossing from Turkey

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:44 PM on 25th October 2010

The EU is sending a specialist team of officials to Greece to deal with an increase in the number of immigrants crossing the border from Turkey.

For the first time since the rapid intervention teams were set up in 2007, officers from  agency FRONTEX will be deployed along the agency for a limited period.

Nearly nine out of 10 illegal immigrants use Greece as an entry point to the EU and arrivals by land - mostly from Turkey - have increased by more than a third in the last year.

Fast response: Immigrants at the Pagani detention centre on the island of Lesvos

In response to a request from Greece, the FRONTEX officers will act under Greek authority.

Cecilia Malmstorm, EU Home Affairs Commissioner, said: 'The situation at the Greek land border with Turkey is increasingly worrying.

'The flows of people crossing the border irregularly have reached alarming proportions and Greece is manifestly not able to face this situation alone.'

The UN refugee agency has urged Greece to improve conditions for migrants at its border with Turkey as a matter of urgency.

Request: A man crossed the Ledra Palace checkpoint in Nicosia, Cyprus. The Greek government asked the EU for assistance in tackling illegal immigration

FRONTEX uses intelligence-led information to help deal with border disputes and immigration issues.

On its website, it states it carries out training for national border guards and surveillance of external borders.

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