Europe Immigration News

The UK government has announced that it is to opt into an agreement between Turkey and the European Union that could see many illegal immigrants from Turkey and from other Asian countries expelled from the EU and sent to Turkey.

An Irish report on immigration finds that, even after the crash, immigrants are playing a vital role in the Irish economy. For Ireland to prosper, it must continue to be open to inward migration.

The report, Migrants and the Irish Economy, was written by economist Jim Power for The Integration Centre, an Irish not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting integration. Killian Forde, of The Integration Centre, said 'without a liberal visa regime, no multinationals would base themselves in Ireland.'

A record number of people left Syria as refugees in August 2012, according to The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told a Geneva press conference yesterday, Wednesday 5th September 2012, that 103,416 Syrian refugees had been counted in August. 'This is a significant escalation in refugee movement. This probably points to a very precarious situation in the country,' she said.

The Greek government is continuing its crackdown on illegal immigration which began on 4th July. By 6th July, police and troops had arrested over 7,000 suspected illegal immigrants in a series of raids both in Athens and along the north-eastern border with Turkey. 1,600 illegal immigrants were deported after the first weekend. Since then, the Greek government has made a concerted effort to take control of its 200km north-eastern land border with Turkey which runs along the Evros River. There are now 2,500 officers on patrol in the area compared to 500 in July.

Greece has announced they are quadrupling the number of guards at their border with Turkey and increasing other security defenses because of a potential influx of Syrian refugees. Thousands of Syrians have fled to Turkey after civil unrest broke out in their country.

The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union (EU), has proposed a plan to deploy drones across the Mediterranean Sea to catch illegal immigrants. The Mediterranean is a major transit point for undocumented immigration. Already 170 immigrants have died trying to reach southern European shores this year.