Britain calls for EU's free movement rules to be suspended Theresa May, the Home Secretary, on Thursday joined Germany, France, Austria, Holland, Belgium and Sweden to demand EU intervention to plug a hole that is allowing illegal immigration via Greece into the rest of Europe. Asylum applications in Austria are up 41 per cent this year, with an influx of illegal immigrants traced back to the lack of controls on the Greek-Turkish border. German asylum applications were up 19 per cent last year. Hans-Peter Friedrich, the German interior minister, has called for passport controls to be introduced between the EU and Greece unless the Greek government, reeling from a debt crisis and economic crash, can manage its borders. "The question is still open on what happens when a country is not in a position to sufficiently safeguard its borders - as we are currently experiencing in Greece," he said. Johanna Mikl-Leitner, the Austrian interior minister said: "The border is open like a barn door." The problem is made worse because of EU court rulings that asylum seekers or illegal immigrants entering Europe from Greece cannot be deported back there because of concerns over "inhuman and degrading conditions" in Greek detention centres. Nicolas Schmit, Luxembourg's immigration minister, called on the EU to help, not to punish, Greece. The Greeks are in a deep crisis and we must help the Greeks - and not just economically, financially. We have to solve this problem together," he said.