Under EU pressure to protect its borders, Greece rounds up immigrants

Sitting alone on a filthy cement barrier that is the centerpiece of Omonia Square near the heart of Athens, Victor Ochiaghe, 20, an asylum-seeker from Ghana, looked around to see he was the only apparent immigrant in a place which a week ago housed thousands of them.

They were gone, rounded up by police and headed for some planned 30 detention centres, including unused military bases that the country is setting up to house undocumented immigrants. This is ahead of an election that will give Greece, caught in a crushing economic crisis, a new prime minister.

Government officials said the plan is imperative to meet EU mandates to keep out undocumented immigrants. But critics said the sweep is a campaign ploy because anti-immigrant extremist parties are rising in the polls. Read More