"Greece Turns Against Migrants As Economy Collapses"

RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:

Joanna Kakissis reports from Athens.

JOANNA KAKISSIS: More than 40,000 illegal migrants entered Greece last year through the land border with Turkey, says Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis. He told the Greek news agency this weekend that the country must build a fence on part of the border and deport those undocumented migrants who are not refugees. Greece, he says, can no longer accommodate new migrants. Unemployment here is more than 12 percent.

NIEMA GANDOR: (Foreign language spoken)

KAKISSIS: For NPR News, I'm Joanna Kakissis, in Athens.