Greek PM says all migrants registered now

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

Athens - Tsipras however said that due to a lack of equipment, fingerprinting migrants and registering the data took "several hours."

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By AFP

Published: Fri 11 Dec 2015, 3:07 PM

Last updated: Fri 11 Dec 2015, 5:10 PM

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday admitted Greek border controls had been overwhelmed by the mass arrival of refugees earlier this year, but insisted all migrants were now being properly documented.
His defence came after the European Commision this week launched legal procedures against Croatia, Greece and Italy for failing to register all migrants in the EU-wide fingerprint database, Eurodac, when they first arrive on the continent.
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Tsipras told lawmakers the government had initially been "taken by surprise" by the sheer number of migrants, "but since September there has not been a single arrival who has not been registered."
Registering new arrivals would help with security, as national police forces and Europol can compare fingerprints linked to criminal investigations with those in Eurodac.
Tsipras however said that due to a lack of equipment, fingerprinting migrants and registering the data took "several hours."
The Eurodac Regulation calls for fingerprinting asylum seekers and filing the data within 72 hours.
Greece on Thursday said it would seek to deport economic migrants, who had been blocked at its border with Macedonia after Skopje clamped down on entry, if they are not entitled to asylum.

AFP

Published: Fri 11 Dec 2015, 3:07 PM

Last updated: Fri 11 Dec 2015, 5:10 PM

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