Awwal 29, 1432 / May 3, 2011, SPA -- The Schengen border treaty must be "jealously guarded," the Greek minister for citizen protection said Tuesday amid demands by some countries to reintroduce border controls in the European Union's passport free zone, according to dpa. "In such a moment the EU should not seek solutions reminiscent of the time before the EU was formed," Christos Papoutsis said in a written statement. An influx of illegal immigrants from North Africa to Italy caused a diplomatic spat last month when Italy issued many of them temporary residence permits to allow them to travel throughout the EU's border- free Schengen area. The move was denounced by France, believed to be the ultimate destination of most of the Tunisian immigrants. The EU is due to present a report on the success of the Schengen zone on Wednesday. Athens is, however, advocating a change in the EU's so-called Dublin II regulation, which states that immigrants must be dealt with in the country in which they arrived. Athens believes the burden of dealing with illegal immigrants should be spread throughout the EU. The country is finding it difficult to cope with a stream of immigrants from North Africa and Asia and hit the headlines last year when the poor state of its reception facilities was reported upon. Over the past five years, more than 500,000 illegal immigrants have arrived in Greece, according to official figures.
