Greece tougher on illegal immigrants after EU vote

The conservative Greek government, stung by far-right gains in the European Parliament election, said yesterday it would get tougher on illegal migration but also push ahead plans to build a mosque in Athens.

"The big issue that Greece and other EU countries face is the uncontrolled entry of illegal immigrants at Europe's borders, mainly through people smugglers," Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos said after a Cabinet meeting on migration.

Greece will build more camps to receive a swelling number of illegal immigrants and will keep them there for up to 12 months, instead of three currently, deputy Public Order Minister Christos Markogiannakis said, detailing the new measures.

People smugglers will face felony instead of misdemeanour charges, which should discourage them, he added.

The ruling conservatives suffered a stinging defeat in the European elections, their first in nine years. The far-right LAOS party took seven per cent of the vote, its best result ever.

"LAOS emerged as the vote's biggest winner and this set the government's alarm bells ringing," said political analyst George Sefertzis. "The government is trying to win back disgruntled voters by addressing their law-and-order concerns and dealing more effectively with immigration."

Immigration is a sensitive issue in Greece, where it is a relatively recent phenomenon.

Tens of thousands of immigrants, many from Muslim countries, cross into Greece illegally from Turkey every year, seeking a better life in the West. Many live in squalid conditions in the centre of Athens.

Immigration grabbed headlines during the election campaign when Athens police clashed with Muslim immigrants protesting at the alleged destruction of a Koran by a Greek policeman.

Rights groups accuse predominantly Orthodox Christian Greece of not doing enough to protect immigrants. Muslims have no official places of worship in Athens and have to pray in private flats.

Mr Pavlopoulos said the government would push ahead with plans to build a mosque and a Muslim cemetery in Athens.

He said the European Union should push Turkey to accept more illegal immigrants as part of Ankara's bid to join the 27-member bloc, and said he would raise the issue at an EU summit in Brussels next week.

Greek authorities said they arrested about 47,000 illegal immigrants coming from Turkey last year.