During cooperative Frontex patrol in the Aegean sea, a Latvian helicopter detected a Turkish coast guard vessel close to the islet of Farmakonisi, which not only failed to thwart a smuggling vessel from entering Greek waters but actively assisted it, the Greek daily Kathimerini reported on September 21 2009.

Those images, made by the Latvian aircraft and then submitted to the Greek authorities, are clear evidence that Turkish and Greek naval authorities were not cooperating in the control of smuggling and illegal immigration, the report said.

Frontex, is a European Union agency with headquarters in Warsaw, Poland. The agency was established as a specialised and independent body tasked to coordinate the operational cooperation between European member states in the field of border security.

"We have to mention... at 8.01 [am] a suspicious target detected in Greek territorial waters moving to the east... At 8.02, the suspicious target has been recognised as a Turkish coast guard vessel," Kathimerini said, quoting the official report from the Latvian aircraft.

The pilots have submitted documentation and pictures on September 14 to European authorities, implicating a Turkish coast guard vessel providing escort for a smuggling boat into Greek national waters.

The EC said in a statement last week that the Frontex helicopter had "never violated Turkish air space" but also added that the aircraft "had never received threats from Turkish authorities."

As a consequence of the ongoing trafficking and smuggling problem in the area and the inability for Greek and Turkish authorities to curb the escalating levels of immigration, the French government is said to have submitted a proposal to the EUs council of justice and interior ministers, calling for Turkey, as well as Libya, to cooperate with EU member states in the drive to help minimise illegal immigration.

Meanwhile, on October 1-2 2009 in Warsaw, the Swedish presidency of the EU and Frontex will hold a workshop/conference on biometric technologies (stationary and mobile) for air, land, and sea border control.



In a related report:

The Human Rights Watch organisation has demanded that the newly elected Pasok government in Greece comply with European laws for immigrants and asylum seekers and cease illegally expelling asylum seekers across the Evros River into Turkey, according to a report on the organisation's official website on October 13 2009.

Immigrants who are headed for western Europe from eastern north Africa, the Middle East and as far afield as Pakistan and Afghanistan, usually arrive first on Greek shores because the country is the first EU member state they encounter. According to current legislation, asylum seekers have to file their applications for political asylum in the "first country they reach" but in Greece's case, the chances of them obtaining asylum are slim.

Greece is criticised for not complying with European laws and procedures but also accused of exposing people to the risk of ill-treatment, both in the country itself, and once its authorities physically expel the immigrants from its territory, by creating resentment with the authorities in Turkey, in this particular case.

"Greece should guarantee access for all migrants to the asylum procedure, and restore a meaningful appeals process," the report says.

The report demands immediate action from the Greek government and the European Union to "reform the country's broken asylum system".

Human Rights Watch cites shelters being destroyed in Patras and elsewhere, of children locked in detention facilities in the northern parts of the country, "of overcrowded, unhygienic conditions with insufficient food and untreated health problems".

"Greece's illegal expulsions have reached a new level," says Simone Troller, researcher at Human Rights Watch, "Migrants are now being arrested throughout the country and then pushed back to Turkey. Clearly, people who need protection are not safe in Greece. Greece's dysfunctional asylum system is entirely in the hands of police who create obstacles to filing asylum claims and deny asylum seekers fair hearings and assessments of their claims," he says.

Meanwhile, the Greek authorities have detained more than 146 000 illegal immigrants in 2008, whereas the number of arrested asylum seekers in 2002 was 58 000, Dnevnik daily reported on October 13 2009. Most arrive via Ankara, and the Greek authorities in turn accuse Turkey of having done nothing to help curb the immigration problem "which puts an increasing strain on the country's infrastructure and health care system".

The quarrel between Turkey and Greece reached a new high on September 21 2009, when during a co-operative Frontex patrol in the Aegean Sea, a Latvian helicopter detected a Turkish coast guard vessel close to the islet of Farmakonisi, which not only failed to thwart an immigrant smuggling vessel from entering Greek waters but actively assisted it, Greek daily Kathimerini reported at the time.

The pilots have submitted documentation and pictures on September 14 to European authorities, implicating a Turkish coast guard vessel providing escort for a smuggling boat into Greek national waters.

As a consequence of the ongoing trafficking and smuggling problem in the area and the inability of Greek and Turkish authorities to curb escalating immigration, the French government is said to have submitted a proposal to the EUs council of justice and interior ministers, calling for Turkey, as well as Libya, to co-operate with EU member states in the drive to help minimise illegal immigration.





Seal of the great and respected House of Laskareon, Komnenon, Palaiologon, Aggelon of Byzantium. In Christ, believers of God.

Emperors of the Romans, Vandals, and all of Anatolia.

I have said this so many times but greeks are containing the afros on secluded rocks by the turkish coast and dumping them after sun set to Turkish shore...

evidence?? Seen it with my eyes 2 times to be specific.

"Greece should guarantee access for all migrants to the asylum procedure, and restore a meaningful appeals process," the report says.


LOL. Human Rights Watch is a phoney human rights organization. A friend of mine has been badgering them for a decade to get them to follow up on human rights violations in nations they don't tend to go after (for political reasons). They've given him the run around.

They only go after nations they have a political agenda against, like Greece. Papandreou should extend his middle finger towards them and send them walking. But he'll probably kiss their ass and play up to them.