The cities of Patras and Calais are now falling points on the road to illegal immigration in Europe; two harbors synonymous of windows leading to the El dorado. They both welcome thousands of migrants every year in transit before reaching their dream destinations. After passing through Turkey, the funnel of immigration in Southern Europe, thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa are found in Patras, Greece without real opportunities, ensuing the recent economic crisis the country suffered. The dead end of Patras summarizes the failure of the European immigration policy. In 2009, shantytowns had formed near the harbor and accommodated up to 1,800 Afghans. Too obvious, this refugee camp was razed and burned. Cardboard houses were revived a little further in the city suburbs. Generally the tougher police actions are, the more difficult and expensive the border crossing is, and the more sedentarised the migration becomes. It also reinforces human traffic movements which then become more professionalized. Reports of abuse in border areas have been raised across all sorts of organizations from NGOs, to the Council of Europe, to the UNHCR .
The asylum system is going bankrupt. Out of the 52,000 cases that are pending review 99% will be rejected. The country gives in more to xenophobia and rejection of immigrants than to trying to be a sovereign state. Racist attacks by skinheads or raids have increased in the past years‚ Médecins du Monde have expressed concern at the proliferation of racist attacks by outraged citizens, against immigrants of any age or sex." Qadir, an Afghan who worked as an interpreter for Medecins du Monde was lynched in September 2010, beaten with iron bars by a mob of nationalists in a neighborhood of Athens."Greece is not Europe, there is no human rights here for us, we have to leave from here " moaned Mahmood, an Afghan of 25, who is pacing along the gates of the port of Patras. Where to? The ferry terminal, on this west coast location of Greece is the main gateway to Italy. The whole harbor area is a fortified camp, which contains painstakingly intrusion of thousands of illegal immigrants each year.
On the road, at traffic lights, young Afghan throws themselves under trucks, clinging to axles, sliding into trailers, playing cat and mouse games with exceeded drivers. Most migrants are flushed at the entrance of the boat and thrown back across the grids, whilst some escape the controls and set foot in Italy. "I came to England four times, said one of them. Each time, I was turned back. I know the whole route, Bari, Rome, Ventimiglia, Nice, Paris Gare de l'Est and Calais. " Consequence of the Dublin Convention is that the country through which a migrant has entered the Schengen area, must take charge of that person. Greece is thus destined to accommodate 90% of new legal entrants, but also condemned to accommodate illegal migrants that the rest of the EU sends them. To Greece relief, a few countries, like Sweden and Belgium suspended the expulsions. Exactly as Patras is a gateway to Southern Europe, Calais harbor, between France and England, is a drop point to Northern Europe and a final destination for many Middle Easterners and West African immigrants. Afghans, Somalis and Eritreans are looking for refuge from civil and political wars that have woven misery in their countries for decades.
