Land border sealed, Greek police chief says
NIKOLAJ NIELSEN, 12/27/2012, EUobserver
"ORESTIADAS, GREECE - A chief of police in a border town in northeastern Greece says irregular migrants are no longer crossing into the country from its land border with Turkey.
"Barbed-wire fences, landmines, thermal night vision cameras and regular patrols are among the tools used to stop a phenomenon the Greek state considers a national security threat.
"Some 55,000 people were detected attempting to wade across the Evros River into Greece from Turkey in the region in 2011.
"The figures have now dropped to near zero, says Pashalis Syritoudis, director of police in the run-down Greek border village of Orestiadas. ...
"'You begin to understand that things must be terrible for them to take such risks and I really feel for them but at the same time we feel unnerved, unsettled by their presence and numbers. We are terrified by this invasion,' the officer said."
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