Continuing Refugee Influx... Europe Erects Border Walls

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] As European countries continue to face an influx of refugees from the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa, they have begun installing barriers to prevent their entry.

Recently, Belarus brought refugees from the Middle East and pushed them toward the borders of Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia, all EU member states. In response, these countries have deployed military and police forces to strengthen border security and are promoting the installation of border barriers.

In October, these three countries, along with Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Denmark, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Estonia?a total of nine member states?requested financial support from the EU Commission for the cost of installing barriers. Most of these countries serve as major transit points for refugees heading to Western Europe.

Poland has established a 3 km-wide controlled access zone along approximately 400 km of its border, including the Belarus border area, where military and police maintain strict surveillance. To prevent refugees from crossing, temporary barbed wire fences have been installed along the border region, with plans to replace them with permanent structures such as concrete barriers in the future.

Greece has further strengthened border security as a large number of migrants and refugees from Afghanistan, following the Taliban regime's takeover, have surged in. Recently, Greece completed a 26 km steel fence along its border with Turkey and plans to request that the EU allocate budget next year for the installation of border barriers and expansion of surveillance equipment.

Even after the large-scale influx of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa into the EU during 2015?2016, refugees continue to enter at various EU member state borders.

Although the number of refugees heading to Europe has not reached the levels seen during the 2015 refugee crisis, when over one million migrants and refugees crossed EU borders in a single year, the number has been increasing recently despite reduced cross-border movement due to the pandemic. According to EU statistics, about 160,000 migrants and refugees have entered EU countries from the beginning of this year through last month. This represents a 70% increase compared to last year and a 45% increase compared to 2019, before the pandemic.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.