The massive inflow of illegal refugees from Turkey into Greece is "increasingly dramatic," the European Commission admitted, asking EU countries for help in dealing with the humanitarian situation.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström described the situation at the border close to the Greek town of Orestiada and the Turkish city of Edirne as "increasingly worrying".
Since border controls with Spain, Italy and Malta were introduced in the Mediterranean Sea, the main flows of illegal people trafficking have been concentrated on the Turkey-Greece land border.
According to press reports, Greek police have intercepted 34,000 people in the area since the beginning of 2010, against 9,000 the previous year.
Among the illegal migrants are Afghans, Pakistanis and Somalis as well as North and Western Africans, who now appear to prefer this itinerary to the more direct sea route to Spain.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has promised better cooperation to curb the flow of illegal migrants making their way into Europe, in exchange for Greece's help with easing visa rules for Turks.
"The flows of people crossing the border irregularly have reached alarming proportions and Greece is manifestly not able to face this situation alone. I am very concerned about the humanitarian situation," Malmström said in a statement on 24 October.
Athens has requested assistance from Frontex, the EU's external border cooperation agency, which will deploy rapid border intervention teams to assist Greece in controlling its land border with Turkey. In particular, a 12.5-kilometre stretch near the Greek town of Orestiada has been singled out as a preferred route for traffickers.
"I have immediately activated the mechanism to liaise with Frontex and to communicate among all interested partners, so as to handle this emergency situation in the most expeditious and efficient way," Malmström further stated.
Deficiencies in immigration and asylum cooperation were recently highlighted by the UN special rapporteur on human rights, Austrian Manfred Nowak. In an interview on 21 October, Novak said Greece must not be the only one to carry the burden of refugees in Europe and their readmission to Greece on the basis of the so-called 'Dublin II' Regulation must be discontinued immediately.
An estimated 300 to 400 immigrants enter Greece each day - an influx that has strained the country's ability to detain and process those seeking to enter the EU.
In 2008, 50% of all arrests of so-called illegal persons in the European Union took place in Greece but during the first eight months of 2010 the figure reached 90%, according to the world body.
Nowak, who visited Greece on behalf of the UN and examined the situation of refugees and relevant services there, said that despite all the Greek government's efforts, the conditions faced by refugees were "catastrophic".
"Some of these facilities are so overcrowded, dark and filthy that it was very difficult for us to be there with the detainees. We had to go out because we didn't have enough air to breathe," he said, referring to some holding cells at police stations in Athens.
"Such conditions of detention clearly amount to inhuman and degrading treatment," he said, according to Greek daily Kathimerini.
In the meantime, the Euronews TV channel reported that 25 Iranian refugees have gone on hunger strike in Greece, demanding that the Greek authorities process their asylum applications. Some have had their mouths sewn shut.
