Truck drivers block Greek border crossings

Feb 20, 2009, 9:30 GMT

Athens - Hundreds of truck drivers blocked key ports and border crossings across Greece on Friday, demanding that authorities increase inspections on foreign trucks entering the country.

Angry truck drivers blocked the crossings of Evzones and Promachonas, at the border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, as well as the main port of Patras in western Greece.

The drivers say foreign trucks smuggle undocumented immigrants into the country.

'Greek trucks always get pulled over for inspections, but drivers bringing foreign goods into Greece cross the border without any checks,' Apostolos Kenanidis, the head of the union representing the drivers, told the Greek daily Kathimerini in remarks published Friday.

Drivers are also complaining that they often face legal action when would-be immigrants are found hidden in their vehicles.

Migrants try to sneak aboard a ferry bound for Italy at the western port of Patras, believing they have better chances of being granted asylum or finding work there, the daily reported.

Patras officials say the number of immigrants living in makeshift camps by the port, waiting to sneak into a trailer truck and onto a ship, now exceeds 4,000. The migrants are forbidden to stay in Greece, but are prevented from leaving.

Greece has become a main transit-point for immigrants seeking entry into the European Union.