because “increased sea controls, including by FRONTEX,7 …almost certainly had an impact, in particular during the periods the operations have been in operation.”8 Greek police recorded 112,369 arrests for illegal entry or presence in 2007, more than double the number apprehended in 2003.9 However, Human Rights Watch believes that the true number of apprehensions is much larger. Many, perhaps most, of the apprehensions in the border region are not recorded at all. After apprehending migrants in the border region, police detain them for a period of days without registering them. The police take these uncounted and unregistered migrants to the Evros River at nightfall and forcibly and secretly return them to the Turkish side. In addition to these numbers are the migrants that the Coast Guard apprehends and pushes back from Greek territorial waters. Increase in Asylum Applications Although relatively few of the migrants apprehended in Greece seek asylum, the number of asylum seekers has been increasing dramatically. As recently as 2004, Greece received a modest 4,500 asylum applications, but by 2007 the number of asylum claims had increased fivefold to more than 25,000, of whom 5,500 were Iraqi claimants.10 In 2007, Greece was the fourth largest recipient of new asylum claims in the EU, exceeded only by Sweden, France, and the United Kingdom (UK).11 Although EU member states saw an 11 percent increase in the number of asylum seekers from 2006 to 2007, Greece saw a 105 percent increase during this period.12 From Human Rights Watch interviews with Iraqis and other migrants in Greece, this increase ought to be attributed less to a recent preference among asylum seekers to lodge protection claims in Greece but rather to the blocking of other options; once 7 FRONTEX is the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union. 8 “Europe’s ‘Boat People,’” p. 8, para. 24. 9 Human Rights Watch interview with Police Brigadier General Constantinos P. Kordatos, Commander of Hellenic Police Headquarters, Aliens Division, Secretariat of Public Order, Ministry of Interior, Athens, May 22, 2008. The Ministry of Public Order recorded 95,239 arrests for illegal entry or presence in 2006; 66,351 arrests in 2005; 44,987 arrests in 2004; and 51,031 arrests in 2003. 10 UNHCR, “Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries, 2007: Statistical Overview of Asylum Applications Lodged in Europe and Selected Non-European Countries,” March 18, 2008, p 7. 11 Ibid. 12 Ibid., pp. 4-5. Stuck in a Revolving Door 20