Aid workers gesture at a migrant boat as it approaches shore after making the crossing from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos on 17 November, 2015, in Sikaminias, Greece.
(
Carl Court/Getty Images
)
Greece wants to install a floating barrier to stop refugees and migrants from reaching its shores, government officials have said.
The 1.7-mile fence is expected to be set up in the Aegean Sea off the Greek island of Lesbos within the next three months after a private contractor is found to build it.
A resurgence in the number of migrants and refugees arriving by sea to Lesbos and other eastern Greek islands through Turkey has caused severe overcrowding at refugee camps.
Download the new Independent Premium app
Sharing the full story, not just the headlines
The net-like barrier will rise 50cm above water and carry flashing lights to make it visible at night, according to a government document inviting vendors to bid for the contract.
The defence ministry estimates it will cost €500,000 (£423,000), which includes four years of maintenance.
The depth of the refugee crisis across the world
Show all 20
The depth of the refugee crisis across the world
1/20 Mexico
A mother washes her baby as she waits for her fast-track humanitarian visa at the Mexico-Guatemala border in Ciudad Hidalgo.
Unicef/Bindra
2/20 Uganda
Refugee children and youngsters from host communities play at a park in Palabek Refugee settlement, during the mid-morning break. This facility is supported by Unicef with EU financial assistance – it also provides psychosocial support to refugee children as well as a place to play, learn, interact, sing and dance after all the traumatic experiences they may have gone through.
Unicef/Nabatanzi
3/20 Jordan
Ali, two, rests on his father’s chest. His family are Syrian refugees and came to Jordan six years ago. Ali has just received his winter clothing kit from Unicef and its partner Mateen.
Unicef/Herwig
4/20 Bangladesh
Children enjoy a ride on a homemade ferris wheel during Eid al-Ftr in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. They are celebrating the holiday in Balukhali, a Rohingya refugee camp sheltering over 800,000 people. The camp is one of the largest in the world, and is bracing for the onset of the monsoon rains.
Unicef/Modola
5/20 Colombia
Yulis Rivas, three, draws a picture of her parents in a “Friendly Space” in Cucuta, where Unicef provides learning activities for migrant children and parents from Venezuela.
Unicef/Arcos
6/20 Greece
A young girl holds her doll in front of her tent at the refugee camp in Moria, on the Greek island of Lesbos. This is an overspill area of the camp, known as “the jungle” or “the olive grove”. In 2018, approximately 12,000 refugee and migrant children arrived in Greece by sea.
Unicef/Haviv VII Ph
7/20 Uganda
Pupils play at Bidibidi refugee settlement in the Yumbe district of Uganda. Their school is supported by Unicef.
Unicef/Bongyereirwe
8/20 Colombia
Hundreds of pupils cross the Venezuela-Colombia border at 5am to meet a bus that will take them to school in the Colombian city of Cucuta.
Unicef/Arcos
9/20 Jordan
Ayman, 11 days old, receives his vaccinations in one of the Unicef-supported health clinics in Azraq refugee camp in Jordan.
Unicef/Herwig
10/20 Ethiopia
Sabirin Nur, 18, is a Somali student volleyball captain at Unicef-supported Melkadida primary school, helping to run sessions for other pupils. Sabirin says: “As a female, many of us face challenges with our parents, like forced marriage or relatives trying to get us married. They want us to go home and be wives.”
Unicef/Ayene
11/20 Uganda
Pupils sing and play at Bidibidi refugee settlement in Uganda, where migrants have fled from South Sudan. The centre is funded by UK aid and Plan International provides positive parenting services, early learning and recovery for children from war-related stress disorders.
Unicef/Bongyereirwe
12/20 Syria
Khalid, 10, receives a measles vaccination in Tabqa city in Raqqa governorate. Khalid was uprooted due to escalating violence near his home, and returned a year ago.
Unicef/Souleiman
13/20 Lebanon
Syrian refugee children in an informal settlement near Terbol in the Bekaa Valley.
Unicef/Modola
14/20
Daily life at the refugee camp in Moria.
Unicef/Haviv VII Ph
15/20 Colombia
A baby has checkup in a Colombian medical centre that receives support from Unicef. Every day, about 40 migrant children are vaccinated in this centre.
Unicef/Arcos
16/20 Rumichaca, border of Ecuador with Colombia
Katty Baez helps her one-year-old Alfredo insert the straw into a juice box that was given to them by a stranger. Katty is traveling to Peru with her two children to meet her husband, who has been there for eight months, and does not know that the family is on the way. Katty wants to surprise him, because he has been working hard on a fishing boat and the children miss him. In this area, Unicef Ecuador is supporting the government to ensure access to safe drinking water, sanitation, education and health services.
Unicef/Arcos
17/20 Ethiopia
Pal Biel Jany, 15, wants to be the future president of South Sudan. He goes to school in Makod primary and secondary school in Tierkidi refugee camp in the Gambella region.
Unicef/Mersha
18/20 Lebanon
Syrian refugee children play in Housh al Refka informal settlement in Bekaa Valley.
Unicef/Choufany
19/20 Rumichaca, border of Ecuador with Colombia
Thiago Patania, 18 months old, takes a nap in the Unicef tent next to the Ecuadorian customs office in Rumichaca, while his mother waits in line to complete the immigration procedures for her passport to be stamped. Unicef has set up temporary child-friendly spaces and rest tents, as well as supplying thermal blankets, baby kits, and hygiene kits.
Unicef/Arcos
20/20 Cameroon
Twelve-year-old Waibai Buka (centre) skips rope as a friend records a video of her with a computer tablet provided by Unicef at a school in Baigai. Waibai had to flee her village after an attack by Boko Haram. She has not seen her father since the attack and fears he might be dead. Unicef initiated a pilot project in January 2017 called “Connect My School”. Six solar-powered units help provide internet to schools in different parts of Cameroon. Two of the units were installed in schools in Cameroon’s Far North region – one in Minawao refugee camp, the other in Baigai, near the Nigerian border, where some 50 per cent of children have been displaced by Boko Haram-related violence.
Unicef/Prinsloo
1/20 Mexico
A mother washes her baby as she waits for her fast-track humanitarian visa at the Mexico-Guatemala border in Ciudad Hidalgo.
Unicef/Bindra
2/20 Uganda
Refugee children and youngsters from host communities play at a park in Palabek Refugee settlement, during the mid-morning break. This facility is supported by Unicef with EU financial assistance – it also provides psychosocial support to refugee children as well as a place to play, learn, interact, sing and dance after all the traumatic experiences they may have gone through.
Unicef/Nabatanzi
3/20 Jordan
Ali, two, rests on his father’s chest. His family are Syrian refugees and came to Jordan six years ago. Ali has just received his winter clothing kit from Unicef and its partner Mateen.
Unicef/Herwig
4/20 Bangladesh
Children enjoy a ride on a homemade ferris wheel during Eid al-Ftr in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. They are celebrating the holiday in Balukhali, a Rohingya refugee camp sheltering over 800,000 people. The camp is one of the largest in the world, and is bracing for the onset of the monsoon rains.
Unicef/Modola
5/20 Colombia
Yulis Rivas, three, draws a picture of her parents in a “Friendly Space” in Cucuta, where Unicef provides learning activities for migrant children and parents from Venezuela.
Unicef/Arcos
6/20 Greece
A young girl holds her doll in front of her tent at the refugee camp in Moria, on the Greek island of Lesbos. This is an overspill area of the camp, known as “the jungle” or “the olive grove”. In 2018, approximately 12,000 refugee and migrant children arrived in Greece by sea.
Unicef/Haviv VII Ph
7/20 Uganda
Pupils play at Bidibidi refugee settlement in the Yumbe district of Uganda. Their school is supported by Unicef.
Unicef/Bongyereirwe
8/20 Colombia
Hundreds of pupils cross the Venezuela-Colombia border at 5am to meet a bus that will take them to school in the Colombian city of Cucuta.
Unicef/Arcos
9/20 Jordan
Ayman, 11 days old, receives his vaccinations in one of the Unicef-supported health clinics in Azraq refugee camp in Jordan.
Unicef/Herwig
10/20 Ethiopia
Sabirin Nur, 18, is a Somali student volleyball captain at Unicef-supported Melkadida primary school, helping to run sessions for other pupils. Sabirin says: “As a female, many of us face challenges with our parents, like forced marriage or relatives trying to get us married. They want us to go home and be wives.”
Unicef/Ayene
11/20 Uganda
Pupils sing and play at Bidibidi refugee settlement in Uganda, where migrants have fled from South Sudan. The centre is funded by UK aid and Plan International provides positive parenting services, early learning and recovery for children from war-related stress disorders.
Unicef/Bongyereirwe
12/20 Syria
Khalid, 10, receives a measles vaccination in Tabqa city in Raqqa governorate. Khalid was uprooted due to escalating violence near his home, and returned a year ago.
Unicef/Souleiman
13/20 Lebanon
Syrian refugee children in an informal settlement near Terbol in the Bekaa Valley.
Unicef/Modola
14/20
Daily life at the refugee camp in Moria.
Unicef/Haviv VII Ph
15/20 Colombia
A baby has checkup in a Colombian medical centre that receives support from Unicef. Every day, about 40 migrant children are vaccinated in this centre.
Unicef/Arcos
16/20 Rumichaca, border of Ecuador with Colombia
Katty Baez helps her one-year-old Alfredo insert the straw into a juice box that was given to them by a stranger. Katty is traveling to Peru with her two children to meet her husband, who has been there for eight months, and does not know that the family is on the way. Katty wants to surprise him, because he has been working hard on a fishing boat and the children miss him. In this area, Unicef Ecuador is supporting the government to ensure access to safe drinking water, sanitation, education and health services.
Unicef/Arcos
17/20 Ethiopia
Pal Biel Jany, 15, wants to be the future president of South Sudan. He goes to school in Makod primary and secondary school in Tierkidi refugee camp in the Gambella region.
Unicef/Mersha
18/20 Lebanon
Syrian refugee children play in Housh al Refka informal settlement in Bekaa Valley.
Unicef/Choufany
19/20 Rumichaca, border of Ecuador with Colombia
Thiago Patania, 18 months old, takes a nap in the Unicef tent next to the Ecuadorian customs office in Rumichaca, while his mother waits in line to complete the immigration procedures for her passport to be stamped. Unicef has set up temporary child-friendly spaces and rest tents, as well as supplying thermal blankets, baby kits, and hygiene kits.
Unicef/Arcos
20/20 Cameroon
Twelve-year-old Waibai Buka (centre) skips rope as a friend records a video of her with a computer tablet provided by Unicef at a school in Baigai. Waibai had to flee her village after an attack by Boko Haram. She has not seen her father since the attack and fears he might be dead. Unicef initiated a pilot project in January 2017 called “Connect My School”. Six solar-powered units help provide internet to schools in different parts of Cameroon. Two of the units were installed in schools in Cameroon’s Far North region – one in Minawao refugee camp, the other in Baigai, near the Nigerian border, where some 50 per cent of children have been displaced by Boko Haram-related violence.
Unicef/Prinsloo
The government’s description says the “floating barrier system” needs to be built “with non-military specifications” and “specific features for carrying out the mission of (maritime agencies) in managing the refugee crisis”.
If the fence is successful, it is understood more parts may be added and it could reach up to eight to nine miles.
A government official, who asked not to be named, said: “This contract process will be executed by the defence ministry but is for civilian use – a process similar to that used for the supply of other equipment for [camps] housing refugees and migrants.”
Nikos Panagiotopoulos, the country’s defence minister, said it would act as “a natural barrier”.
He told Skai Radio: “If it works like the one in Evros, I believe it can be effective,” referring to a cement and barbed-wire fence Greece set up in 2012 along its northern border with Turkey to stop a rise in migrants crossing there.
Greece’s six-month old centre-right government has promised to take a tougher stance on the migration crisis and plans to set up detention facilities for migrants denied asylum and to speed up deportations back to Turkey.
Under a 2016 migration agreement between the European Union and Turkey, the Turkish government was promised up to €6bn to help stop the mass movement of migrants to Europe.
Nearly 60,000 migrants and refugees made the crossing to the islands last year, nearly double the number recorded in 2018, according to data from the United Nations’ refugee agency.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging discussions and hear from the journalists? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium.
It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss
real-world solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when
they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium. The most insightful comments on all subjects
will be published daily in dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies
to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to
Independent Premium. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post
the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Please
continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates.
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines.
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
- -1) ? 'active' : ''">
Newest first
- -1) ? 'active' : ''">
Oldest first
- -1) ? 'active' : ''">
Most liked
{{/moreThanOne}}Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines.
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
- -1) ? 'active' : ''">
Newest first
- -1) ? 'active' : ''">
Oldest first
- -1) ? 'active' : ''">
Most liked
{{/moreThanOne_p}}Follow comments
Vote
Report Comment
Subscribe to Independent Premium to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging discussions and hear from the journalists? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Already registered? Log inReport Comment
Delete Comment
About The Independent commenting
Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates.