Economically expiring Greece starts mass-expelling illegal immigrants

Apparently only one thing can break the spell of suicidal liberalism: absolute, life-or-death, necessity.

The Daily Mail reports:

The Greek authorities are rounding up thousands of suspected illegal immigrants in a large-scale deportation drive.

Up to 6,000 were detained over the weekend in Athens and more than 1,600 are to be deported in the next few days.

Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias said Greece could not afford an ‘invasion of immigrants’.

He blamed mass migration for bringing the country ‘to the brink of collapse’.

‘The country is being lost, What is happening now is [Greece’s] greatest invasion ever,’ he said. ‘Whoever is arrested will be held and then deported.’

Many of those heading into the economically-fragile country are from Asia and Africa.

There are also growing fears that there could soon be an influx of migrants fleeing the Syrian civil war.

Greece has long been Europe’s main entry point for illegal immigrants from Asia and Africa seeking a better life in the West.

Up to 80 per cent of all migrants heading into the EU come via Greece. But the country’s disastrous economic problems and high unemployment are making the problem worse than ever.

Some 100,000 illegal immigrants are estimated to slip into the country every year and up to a million are believed to live in Greece, which has a total population of about 11 million.

The uncontrolled influx, which coincided with a spike in crime, has contributed to the rise of a Greek far-Right political party.

Golden Dawn gained nearly 7 per cent of the vote in recent parliamentary elections. It has won a lot of support from young Greeks who blame migrants for their lack of job opportunities.

Before the Olympics started, Greek triple jumper and Golden Dawn supporter Voula Papachristou was banned from the Games for posting a racist tweet about migrants.

The Greek office of the UN High Commission for refugees said that while Greece has the right to carry out checks on immigrants, it must ensure that vulnerable groups do not suffer.

Spokesman Petros Mastakas said: ‘It is very difficult for asylum seekers to apply for protected status, and we are concerned that among those arrested there may be people who want protection but were unable to submit their requests because access to the relevant authorities is practically impossible.’

VIDEO: Greece cracks down on illegal immigrants with police roundup of suspects …

- end of initial entry -

August 8

James P. writes:

“Mass expulsion” is hardly the right description for what happened. The article says they deported 1,600 immigrants, whereas 100,000 arrive per year and one million are in the country. Thus Greece has expelled 1.6 percent of the annual arrivals and 0.16 percent of the grand total. If they deport 1,600 a week, they will still have an increase in the number of immigrants at the end of one year. If immigration totally stopped today, it would take them twelve years to get rid of the one million immigrants at that rate.

Calling a decrease in the rate of immigration increase a “mass expulsion” is like calling a decrease in the rate of increase in government spending a “steep budget cut.”

LA replies:

The article says that 6,000 illegals were rounded up over the weekend. Arresting 6,000 people in a couple of days is correctly described as mass arrests. The expulsion of that number, and on an ongoing weekly basis, is correctly described as mass expulsions. Whether such mass expulsions will reduce the total number of illegals in Greece is different quesion.

You’re forgetting also that with such mass arrests and expulsions going on, many illegals will voluntarily leave Greece and others will choose not to come.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at August 07, 2012 06:25 PM | Send