However, voluntary return schemes to countries of origin represent only a small fraction of foreigners who want to leave Greece. Thousands of people consider Greece a transit country, which can offer them a ticket to better work and life opportunities somewhere else in Europe15. These people linger in the streets of Athens until they find a safe (illegal) way of crossing to Europe16. ‘Most of the illegally staying immigrants in Greece that arrived in the country at some point over the last three years (2009-2011) are constantly attempting to leave the country in any possible way’17. Some of them are arrested and detained at the airport detention centre. Outflow migration from the Athens airport For those who wish to exit the country, the journey from the doorway of the Greek-Turkish border, to Athens, and then to a country in Europe passes through the Athens international airport, Eleutherios Venizelos. While there are other routes, which sometimes involve crossing the Western Balkans or being smuggled through intra-EU ferry connections between Greece and Italy18, Athens airport acts as one of the main exit points from Greece to the rest of Europe. In this it diverges sharply to other airports around the world, which act as the main entry points. In reality, in Europe ‘a large proportion of asylum applications were filed by passengers using forged documents on intra-Schengen flights arrived from Athens airport’19. Greek border control authorities estimate that around 200 people attempt to fly to a European destination every day, yet only a maximum of 10 are apprehended. The problem is not just one of inefficiency or effective human smuggling. ‘We could catch them all if we wanted to’ one official claimed, ‘but we have nowhere to put them’. Greek border officers are also increasingly critical of the task being demanded of Greece: ‘It’s a European problem, we want to let them go because we don’t want them in the country; let others decide what’s going to happen to them’20. Greek border control is central to European border control. Realising the need to secure another one of Greece’s borders, Frontex has been operating at the airport with increased intensity. Guest officers from Rapid Border Intervention Teams (RABIT) have been employed to support Greece’s capacity to patrol the border due to exceptional migratory pressure. Notwithstanding investment in technology and personnel, immigrants and asylum seekers manage to squeeze through, drawing on informal and formal opportunities. Finding a fake passport or ID cards in the centre of Athens is not hard, although the fees, for some, may be prohibitive as they range from 500 to 3000 euros. Detainees report a preference for French or Greek ID cards or passports. They obtain them in a number of ways, either by procuring forged (photo substitution) or counterfeit documents, or they use another person’s genuine papers (imposters). Once furnished with ID they take their chances, like EU tourists, preferring smaller regional airports as arrival points in order to take advantage of cheaper connections. As one man put it, ‘I can come back again. I will do it again and again until I succeed. Athens is a few hours away from the border and then from Athens you go everywhere you want’. Even so, flying out of Greece with fake documentation does not come without its risks; each day some do get arrested and detained. Thousands of people consider Greece a transit country, which can offer them a ticket to better work and life opportunities somewhere else in Europe. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 36 Detention at the airport detention facility Arrests at the airport do not follow a consistent pattern and can seem arbitrary. Those who are arrested are transferred to the Athens airport detention facility, which has the unenviable — albeit deserved — reputation as the worst detention centre in Athens. International human rights organizations, like Amnesty International (2010) and CPT (2011), have repeatedly expressed their concerns over severe overcrowding and unhygienic conditions. So, too, the European Court of Human Rights has found in the judgment in M.S.S. that Papadopoulou, A. (2004) Smuggling into Europe: Transit migrants in Greece, Journal of Refugee Studies, 17: 3. Human Rights Watch (2008); Amnesty International (2010) Greece: Irregular migrants and asylum seekers routinely detained in substandard conditions, London: Amnesty International Publications. Maroukis, 2012: 2. Antonopoulos, G. A. and Winterdyk, J. (2006) The Smuggling of Migrants in Greece: an examination of its social organisation, European Journal of Criminology, 3: 4; Frontex (2011). Frontex (2012) Annual Risk Analysis (p. 18), Warsaw, Poland. For a report on the issues that Dublin II returnees face in Greece see, AITIMA (2009) Out the back door: the Dublin II regulation and illegal deportations from Greece, Greece. Prison Service Journal Issue 205