Greece’s centre-right government has announced that it will build a floating barrier to stop people from making the dangerous journey by sea from Turkey to the Aegean islands
The plan is to erect a 2.7km-long netted barrier off Lesbos which will rise from pylons 50 metres above water and will be equipped with flashing lights to demarcate Greece’s sea borders. Amnesty International and other international agencies have decried the proposal on the grounds that it would endanger the lives of asylum-seekers and refugees rather than act as a deterrent. Lesbos has been inundated with Europe-bound refugees since the height of the Syrian civil war, when almost one million Europe-bound refugees landed on its shores.
