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Tempers flare, migrants protest at Greek-Macedonian border Europe’s crisis worsens: Migrants face razor wire, tear gas
(about 4 hours later)
IDOMENI, Greece — Macedonia sent special police reinforcements by helicopter Monday to its border with Greece, after repelling hundreds of frustrated Iraqi and Syrian refugees with tear gas and stun grenades when they tried to force their way across the border. IDOMENI, Greece — Pressed against coils of razor wire and shouting “Help us!,” refugees stranded at Greece’s northern border were pushed back Monday by Macedonian police using tear gas and stun grenades, as the European Union scrambled to ease the escalating number of stranded migrants in Greece.
Thousands of desperate refugees have been stuck for days on the Greek side of the border, overflowing from a packed refugee camp at Idomeni into the surrounding fields as they waited for Macedonian authorities to let them continue their trek through the Balkans. Only a tiny trickle of people from specific countries have been allowed to cross every day. In a chaotic scene, Syrian and Iraqi refugees forced their way through part of a Macedonian border fence, some clutching infants or struggling to free duffel bags caught in the razor-wire fence. They were met by Macedonian riot police, bolstered by dozens of special forces officers flown in by helicopter to quell a refugee protest.
Chanting “Open the border!” and “We want to go to Serbia!”, the protesting migrants broke down a gate at a nearby rail crossing Monday after pushing their way past Greek police. Amnesty International condemned European government for failing to adequately help stranded migrants.
Macedonian police repelled the protesters. Several women and children were nearly trampled in the melee and Macedonian authorities said one officer was injured. “Tragically, there seems to be more willingness among European countries to coordinate blocking borders than to provide refugees and asylum-seekers with protection and basic services,” said Giorgos Kosmopoulos, Amnesty’s director in Greece.
Macedonian police opened the crossing to receive about 50 people just before midday Monday but closed it again after the clashes. A police spokeswoman said a train with 450 refugees left the Greek border early Monday and was heading for Serbia. Some 7,000 migrants, including many from Syria and Iraq, are crammed into a tiny camp at the Greek border village of Idomeni, and hundreds more are arriving daily. The border pileup began ten days ago, when Austria and four ex-Yugoslav countries on the Balkan migrant route north into Western Europe decided to slow border access for migrants to a trickle — and stopped letting Afghan migrants travel through their territory.
Macedonia has said it will only allow in as many people as Serbia accepts, and Serbia has been responding to refugee caps set by Austria further up the migrant trail into Western Europe. This has led to a huge bottleneck in Greece, where authorities say more than 22,000 people are stuck and more are arriving every day. A U.N. official says those nations never did explain who made the decision on Afghan migrants, or why.
About 6,500 Syrian and Iraqi refugees are camped out around Idomeni, with another 500 moved to a hastily erected camp on a small concrete landing strip 20 kilometers (13 miles) away. Syrian refugee Nidal Jojack, 45, said she has been camped out with her family at Idomeni for three days and nights. Donald Tusk, the European Council President, begins of tour of those countries Tuesday, starting in Vienna, which has been strongly criticized by other EU nations for its caps on asylum-seekers, and ending Thursday in Athens. Tusk is aiming to prepare for a meeting of leaders from the EU and Turkey on March 7, where the key topic will be trying to halt the flow of migrants from Turkey to Greece.
“Very many people were forced to sleep in the open, without tents, wrapped in blankets,” she said. “It was very cold. The borders are effectively closed, it’s a huge problem. To get food, we have to wait in very long queues.” The number of migrants stranded in Greece topped 22,000 over the weekend, according to government estimates. Thousands have been sleeping outside in parks and along northbound highways, as refugee shelters quickly overflowed.
Jojack hopes to reach Germany, where her 18-year-old son has already arrived. “Very many people were forced to sleep in the open, without tents, wrapped in blankets,” said 45-year-old Syrian refugee Nidal Jojack, who has been camped out with her family at Idomeni for three days.
The Idomeni crossing is a key point on the mass migration route that has prompted a major Europe-wide crisis. More than a million people have entered the continent since January 2015 — most arriving in small smugglers’ boats from Turkey on Greece’s eastern Aegean Sea islands. “It was very cold. The borders are effectively closed, it’s a huge problem. To get food, we have to wait in very long queues,” she said.
After first sending welcoming messages, European authorities are now struggling to handle the situation. Hungary has fenced off its borders, refusing to accept any migrants, and other eastern European countries say they will not take in anyone under an EU refugee-sharing deal. Jojack said she hopes to reach Germany, where her 18-year-old son has already arrived.
In recent weeks Austria — at the north end of the Balkan corridor — has severely restricted the inflow of migrants, causing a domino effect through the Balkans. Many of those countries are now refusing to let Afghan refugees in, although U.N. authorities say no one has explained to them who made this decision or why. Despite receiving the bulk of the refugees seeking the safety of Europe, Germany has opposed unilateral border restrictions and continued to back an EU-wide solution for the migrant crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is resisting calls at home and elsewhere in Europe for limits on refugees like Austria.
Diplomatic tensions are rising too, with criticism mounting against Austria. Athens has threatened to block decisions at an upcoming EU-Turkey summit unless the bloc forces members to shoulder more of the refugee burden. “We can’t do this in such a way that we simply abandon Greece,” she told public ARD television. “This is exactly what I fear: When one country defines its limit, another must suffer. That is not my Europe.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, issued another robust defense of her quest for a European solution to the migrant crisis. Merkel is resisting calls at home and elsewhere in Europe for limits on refugees like Austria.
“We can’t do this in such a way that we simply abandon Greece,” she said Sunday night on ARD television. “This is exactly what I fear: When one country defines its limit, another must suffer. That is not my Europe.”
At next Monday’s summit, EU leaders “will discuss how we can restore the (passport-free) Schengen system step by step with Greece,” Merkel said.At next Monday’s summit, EU leaders “will discuss how we can restore the (passport-free) Schengen system step by step with Greece,” Merkel said.
But Austria’s deputy chancellor, Reinhold Mitterlehner, said Monday the refugee restrictions “are necessary (and) we’re going to maintain them.” But Austria’s deputy chancellor, Reinhold Mitterlehner — in a sign of continued diplomatic tensions — declared Monday that the refugee restrictions “are necessary (and) we’re going to maintain them.”
Authorities say over 1,800 people a day have reached Greece’s islands from Turkey in February, slightly down from 2,175 a day in January before the latest border restrictions. Wolf Piccoli, head of research the global advisory firm Teneo Intelligence, said the EU was making a “risky bet” with its strategy on migration.
“The EU is betting on incremental steps, hoping that the backlog will deter potential migrants before tensions in Greece raise concerns over the country’s institutions,” he said.
So far, border closures have not stopped migrants from coming.
Greek authorities say over 1,800 people a day have reached Greece’s islands from Turkey in February, slightly down from 2,175 a day in January.
Accidents are frequent as dozens cram into unseaworthy boats provided for a high price by smuggling gangs. Ninety-six people have drowned in Greek waters alone so far this year, with another 34 missing at sea.Accidents are frequent as dozens cram into unseaworthy boats provided for a high price by smuggling gangs. Ninety-six people have drowned in Greek waters alone so far this year, with another 34 missing at sea.
After long delays, Greek authorities have constructed a series of screening centers and transit camps for migrants. But the centers are now all overflowing, forcing hundreds of families to sleep outside in a central Athens square or at a passenger terminal in the port of Piraeus. Struggling to cope with the crisis, Greece’s government has issued a temporary ban on journalists visiting migrant camps and called opposition party leaders to an emergency meeting Friday with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
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Nicholas Paphitis in Athens, Konstantin Testorides in Skopje, Macedonia and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed. Nicholas Paphitis and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Konstantin Testorides in Skopje, Macedonia and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.
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Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.