(AP) Greek authorities have prevented some 25,000 people from entering the country illegally in less than a month, a government official said Wednesday, accusing neighbor and regional rival Turkey of channeling asylum-seekers toward Greece.
That figure is more than three times the total number of asylum-seekers who have made it into Greece in the entire year to date, according to data from the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR.
Takis Theodorikakos, Greece’s minister for public order, said the pressure at the land and sea borders with Turkey “is developing into a very particular threat to Greece’s integrity and security.”
“During the month of August alone so far, 25,000 irregular migrants have tried to illegally enter through the Greek-Turkish borders,” Theodorikakos said in an interview with private Antenna TV. “It’s a very large number.”
