The leadership of the Greek police seems determined to "enter into the card-index" the entrances of the wave of illegal immigrants in the country. For this purpose, the implementation of the plan "Spear" will begin as of 1 September, as informed by an investigation of the electronic edition zougla.gr.
This is a police action that will last for a period of 12 months and provides for increased inspections of foreign nationals. According to sources, the operation will take place in Athens, Continental Greece and Thessaly, as well as in Western and Central Macedonia.
Police sources said that organised inspections will be carried out within the plan in order to locate both illegal immigrants and traffickers.
"Particular attention will be paid to key transport points in all areas. Inspections will be carried out in trains, at railway stations, bus stations, the "Egnatia Odos" motorway and elsewhere", they noted.
They rely on analysis
The aim of the plan is coordination of police services so that the operation could differ from previous
similar ones with its effective combat with secondary migration flows.
Given that immigration flows have different characteristics in various regions, the analysis of data collected during the inspection will be used in order to determine the nature and type of measures that will be taken.
I.e. measures that will be taken and any changes in the operation will be carried out according to the conclusions received in the processing of data.
The database
As explained by Greek police sources, the data which will be collected will be inserted into an online database, which will be stored in the headquarters, and immigrant flows will be analysed with it.
In particular, the development of flows will be registered and followed with, as a final aim, the evaluation and optimisation of the mode of action.
"When an illegal immigrant is caught, he or she will no longer be simply detained. There will be qualified specialists who will deal with his or her identification. In particular, we will be looking for the country from which he or she came, the money he or she paid to traffickers in order to pass the border and how he or she entered the country. Then, all data will be inserted into the system. Processing and evaluation of these data will help a lot in police operations. A complete analysis and data processing will be performed. In this way we will know at any given time where we have immigration flows so that we can intervene immediately", explained competent sources.
Strengthening of services
However, in order for the plan to be implemented successfully, border guards (where available) must be strengthened considerably, and in the first place those in Thessaly and Evros, as well as in Athens.
However, since there are not enough forces in many areas due to the relocation of staff, uniformed personnel serving in police stations and security forces will also have to be involved.
"Where there are no border guard agencies, we will cooperate with local police stations and
security forces that will participate in inspections and blockades. The goal for the plan is, at a certain point, to operate on the territory of Greece, i.e. for a national plan to be created in order to combat illegal immigration", the same sources indicated.
The online edition zougla.gr contacted President of the Pan-Hellenic Border Guard Union Panagiotis Harelas. He noted that this is a plan that is expected to assist greatly in the fight against illegal immigration.
"After two years of continuous pressure from the European Union for a comprehensive plan of action and combating illegal immigration, the police headquarters prepared the plan "Spear", with which we agree. We have repeatedly emphasised the three ways for tackling the problem - accommodation centres, border protection and an increased number of inspections. We are currently seeing that the third element is being realised, too. The analysis of the data that will be inserted into the database will be able to direct the police to the flow of illegal immigrants and smugglers, so that the problem can be solved," added Harelas.
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