Greece will deploy a floating barrier in the Aegean Sea in the coming weeks to discourage migrants

As tension mounts between Greece and Turkey and in the camps on the Aegean islands, the Greek government has decided to implement a controversial plan to respond to the constant flow of migrants between the two nations: to create a floating barrier to deter migrants, a plan that has been heavily criticized by various human rights organizations. The barrier -- which will be 2.7 kilometres long, 1.10 metres high and cost about 500,000 euros and is intended to stop migrants arriving from the Turkish coast -- will be deployed over the next few weeks off the island of Lesbos. 

A government official told the news agency France Press (AFP) that this barrier will be equipped with lights to make it visible at a distance of 10 metres. However, various human rights organisations have criticised this plan as being "potentially dangerous for the lives of asylum seekers" and for those travelling in overcrowded boats that "often require quick rescue".  This plan was drawn up in January, after the Ministry of Defence issued a tender to install a "floating protection system". 

At the time and after the government presented this plan, the main opposition party, the left-wing Syriza, condemned this initiative as "a complete disgrace and an insult to humanity".  In recent years, according to the European Parliament itself, Europe has had to face the most serious migration challenge since the end of World War II.   Greece and Turkey have had to endure much of the migratory flow into Europe, fleeing war and persecution and conflicts such as those in Libya and Syria. 

The Turkish Government decided to open its borders last March, arguing that the European Union had not fulfilled its promise to assist the 3.6 million Syrian refugees it is hosting. The Turkish leader explained that he had taken this decision because Turkey could no longer cope with the large number of migrants arriving in the country fleeing the war in Syria.  Following the decision in Ankara, the leaders of the main European institutions showed their total solidarity and support for Greece and appreciated its ability to "act as a European shield against the flow of refugees". 

Since then, the Greek authorities have moved almost 14,000 migrants and refugees from the Aegean islands to the mainland and offered their help to many of the overcrowded camps on the Greek islands of the Aegean, located near the Turkish coast. In addition to this floating barrier, Athens is extending the fence that separates Greece from neighbouring Turkey, following the increase in the number of migrants who have arrived in the border area during the last few months and increased surveillance measures. 

One of Greece's main opposition parties has in recent hours criticized the government's refugee and migrant policies and accused the executive of cutting spending and closing down certain facilities, according to the InfoMigrants website. In addition, the NGO Oxfam, together with the Greek Council for Refugees, has published a report stating that "the Greek asylum system is designed to deport people, instead of offering them security and protection". "This means that people who have fled violence and persecution have little chance of a fair asylum procedure, and even families with children are regularly detained in inhumane conditions," they said.  

"The new law in Greece is a blatant attack on Europe's humanitarian commitment to protect people fleeing conflict and persecution. The European Union is complicit in this abuse because it has been using Greece as a testing ground for new migration policies for years," said Ruth Tanner, Oxfam's humanitarian campaign manager.