Greek police crack down on immigration
Greek police have launched an operation to stop and search immigrants on the streets of Athens as part of the anti-immigration operation Xenios Zeus.
Greece is now the main gateway into Europe for economic migrants with 130,000 people entering the country illegally in 2011.
Since the operation was launched last August more than 60,000 people have been detained but there have been fewer than 4,200 arrests.
Immigrants who are in the country legally have complained about police harassment and aggression.
And some non-white tourists visiting the country who have been caught up in the raids say Greek police officers select who to stop and search based on the colour of their skin.
BBC News went out on patrol with Xenios Zeus officers and heard from one legal migrant from Iran who said he was regularly stopped and questioned.
09 Jan 2013
- From the section Europe