OPINION

Put border plans into action

Certain parts of Greece are being severely tried by the problem of illegal immigration.

A number of old Athenian neighborhoods and parts of the port cities of Patra and Igoumenitsa, among others, face massive problems with rising crime and widespread lawlessness.

In its first few months in power in 2010, the PASOK government did nothing at all to address this problem and has since launched a campaign designed more for show than solutions in which it has touted the construction of a fence along part of Greece?s border with Turkey in Evros and setting up new reception camps for illegal migrants. Nothing has been done in terms of putting these plans into action, however, making the government?s recent announcement that it plans to gentrify the beleaguered Omonia area and revamp the historical center of Athens sound ludicrous, to say the least.

Illegal migration is obviously a European problem as well as a Greek one, but when the Greek state is incapable of guarding its own borders and limits itself to publicity campaigns instead of action and planning, the results are truly tragic.

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