Gangs smuggling illegal immigrants across borders make an estimated $5-7 billion a year, Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Grigoris Niotis said on Wednesday.
"It is known that the gangs organizing illegal immigration have profits of five to seven billion dollars a year, comparable to the drug trade," he said at a Council of Europe conference on illegal immigration in the Mediterranean region.
The conference was called after increasing concern in Europe about the effect of illegal immigration, and the treatment of illegal immigrants once they are discovered.
Niotis highlighted the "vulnerability" of Europe, and especially Greece, to illegal immigration because of its 16,000 kilometers of coastlines and its geographical position between Asia, Africa and Europe.
He said the latest figures showed that some 500,000 illegal immigrants entered the European Union each year.
Greece counts 700,000 immigrants, mainly from the former USSR and Albania, said the minister, without specifying how many of them are illegal.
The Council of Europe secretary general, Walter Schwimmer, called for closer cooperation with southern Mediterranean countries in the fight against illegal immigration.
"They must preserve their social cohesion and fight against the frustration which leads to immigration, especially now, after the attacks on the US, when there is a risk of xenophobia and intolerance," he said -- ATHENS (AFP)
