New calls to de-mine border
The Doctors of the World humanitarian group on Saturday renewed its appeal for Greece’s military to clear the Evros border area of mines, during a conference held in the Thracian town of Alexandroupolis. Group President Theophilos Rozenberg argued that demining the border with Turkey, where dozens of people have been killed or maimed by mines in recent years, need not necessarily undermine Greece’s defensive capacity. «We chose Alexandroupolis for the conference, for this is where all efforts must turn to rid the area of the last active minefields in Europe,» he said. «This need not for a moment mean that our border defenses should be weakened.» According to Doctors of the World, 62 people have been killed in Evros minefields since 1997, when the Ottawa Convention on banning the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines was signed. Scores more have been injured. In nearly all the cases, the victims were illegal immigrants trying to enter Greece.
