Influx of Syrian Refugees into Greece is a Security Disaster

According to a report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released on July 1, Italy is no longer the top destination for migrants and refugees coming into Europe. Greece is.

68,000 people have come to Greece so far this year, a number that is nearly 20,000 people more than arrived in Greece throughout the entirety of 2014. 67,500 people have arrived in Italy in the same amount of time.

Of the many refugees in Greece, only 5,100 have applied for asylum, implying that the rest do not plan to remain in Greece but instead intend on going somewhere else in Europe. Often, they aim to go to Sweden and Germany. Both countries are known for the support they offer to asylum-seekers, and many of refugees have family living there already.

Though the UNHCR has increased its presence in Greece to help deal with the arriving migrants, the refugee camps are becoming severely overcrowded, leading to deteriorating conditions and fighting between people coming from different countries.

Concerns have been raised over Europe’s capacity to handle such a large influx of migrants due to its Common European Asylum System, which states that every refugee that enters Europe is entitled to asylum. However, a deeper security issue lies beyond the simple ability of Europe to take in so many people: it is nearly impossible, with so many refugees entering European countries, to ensure that they all have peaceful intentions.

Many of those coming to Greece are fleeing the war in Syria. Though the vast majority of them are likely hoping for a better life in Europe, the reality is that dozens of terrorist organizations and armed groups are operating in Syria. All of them, especially larger and better-resources ones like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) have significantly benefited from the refugee crisis. They have been inserting their own fighters in amongst the true asylum-seekers, and the Common European Asylum System has given them the capability to spread throughout Europe to conduct operations. The increase in Syrian refugees will allow even more militants from IS, Al Qaeda, and other smaller groups into Europe because border controls throughout Europe are dealing with more people than they can handle. Finding the terrorists sneaking into Europe, masked by all of the well-intentioned people, will turn into a search for a needles in a haystack. In addition, IS has been running some of the refugee-smuggling operations themselves, which gives it hundreds of millions of dollars in income and a greater ability to place its fighters in amongst those people legitimately fleeing war.

The current political unrest in Greece due to its default on its loans and its potential exit from the Eurozone will only serve to help terrorists groups sending their fighters into Europe. Not only has the Greek government had difficulties controlling its borders, but the turmoil could weaken both the EU and NATO. If its relationship with member countries of both international organizations is damaged, it could become less willing to cooperate with either. If it chooses to ignore security measures put in place by them, the repercussions could include an influx of terrorists throughout the entirety of Europe.