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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| The Latest: EU mulls ID check extension over Greek borders | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| IDOMENI, Greece — The Latest on the flow of migrants into Europe (all times local): | IDOMENI, Greece — The Latest on the flow of migrants into Europe (all times local): |
| 5:45 p.m. | |
| The European Union is considering plans to let some countries in Europe’s passport-free travel area tighten border controls until November if Greece can’t get migrant flows under control soon. | |
| A draft document seen by The Associated Press on Thursday said the European Commission will make the move on May 12 “if the serious deficiencies in external border control were to persist.” | |
| Destabilized by the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants, countries like Austria, Germany and Sweden have temporarily reintroduced ID checks. Denmark on Thursday renewed its checks for another month. | |
| Germany wants to keep checks in place, but can’t do so beyond May 13 without permission from its EU partners. | |
| The European Commission is setting November as “the target date for bringing to an end the exceptional safeguard measures.” | |
| ___ | |
| 4:30 p.m. | 4:30 p.m. |
| Some 100 mostly Iraqis and Syrians, nearly half of them children, remain stranded on the Serbian side of the border with Croatia which is refusing to take them in for various administrative reasons. | Some 100 mostly Iraqis and Syrians, nearly half of them children, remain stranded on the Serbian side of the border with Croatia which is refusing to take them in for various administrative reasons. |
| Mohammad Al-Aziz said half of his 10-member family managed to cross into Croatia, but he and the rest of the family has been stuck in a refugee center on the Serbian side of the border for the past 12 days. | Mohammad Al-Aziz said half of his 10-member family managed to cross into Croatia, but he and the rest of the family has been stuck in a refugee center on the Serbian side of the border for the past 12 days. |
| He said he has made three attempts to cross into Croatia, but each time the Croats turned him back after seeing stamps in his Iraqi passports that show that he spent three months in Turkey on his way to Europe. | He said he has made three attempts to cross into Croatia, but each time the Croats turned him back after seeing stamps in his Iraqi passports that show that he spent three months in Turkey on his way to Europe. |
| “They are saying that I’m not directly fleeing from the war in my country and that I should get back to Turkey,” Al-Azizi said. “Half of my family had the same stamps in their passports, but they let them in.” | “They are saying that I’m not directly fleeing from the war in my country and that I should get back to Turkey,” Al-Azizi said. “Half of my family had the same stamps in their passports, but they let them in.” |
| “I will rather kill myself then turn back in the other direction.” | “I will rather kill myself then turn back in the other direction.” |
| Others at the center in Sid said that they were turned back from the Croatian border because some data in the migrant documents issued on the Macedonian border with Greece did not match the data in their passports, such as misspelled or incomplete names or wrong birth dates. | Others at the center in Sid said that they were turned back from the Croatian border because some data in the migrant documents issued on the Macedonian border with Greece did not match the data in their passports, such as misspelled or incomplete names or wrong birth dates. |
| “They make our life miserable,” said Mohammad Abdali from Raqa, Syria. “I’m not moving from here. If I survived Daesh, I’ll survive this as well,” he said using one of the acronyms for the Islamic State. | “They make our life miserable,” said Mohammad Abdali from Raqa, Syria. “I’m not moving from here. If I survived Daesh, I’ll survive this as well,” he said using one of the acronyms for the Islamic State. |
| ___ | ___ |
| 3:50 p.m. | 3:50 p.m. |
| Austria’s foreign minister says it is “absurd” for migrants at Greece’s northern border to demonstrate to be let into Macedonia, a non-European Union nation. | Austria’s foreign minister says it is “absurd” for migrants at Greece’s northern border to demonstrate to be let into Macedonia, a non-European Union nation. |
| Migrants have been massing in Greece since countries on the Balkan route restricted entry, responding to limits imposed by Austria. | Migrants have been massing in Greece since countries on the Balkan route restricted entry, responding to limits imposed by Austria. |
| Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz told German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung that if people are demonstrating to be let into Macedonia, “it is not about the search for protection, but about the search for a better economic future. That is understandable in human terms, but we cannot offer this.” | Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz told German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung that if people are demonstrating to be let into Macedonia, “it is not about the search for protection, but about the search for a better economic future. That is understandable in human terms, but we cannot offer this.” |
| Kurz said last year’s opening of borders was “a serious mistake” that prompted more migrants to set off. | Kurz said last year’s opening of borders was “a serious mistake” that prompted more migrants to set off. |
| ____ | ____ |
| 1:25 p.m. | 1:25 p.m. |
| Greece’s prime minister has called for sanctions to be imposed on European Union states that refuse to take in their share of the hundreds of thousands of refugees flowing into the continent through his country. | Greece’s prime minister has called for sanctions to be imposed on European Union states that refuse to take in their share of the hundreds of thousands of refugees flowing into the continent through his country. |
| Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras also demanded that the practically dormant procedure for relocating refugees stranded in Greece to other EU members should be drastically speeded up. | Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras also demanded that the practically dormant procedure for relocating refugees stranded in Greece to other EU members should be drastically speeded up. |
| Speaking Thursday after a meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk in Athens, Tsipras promised to provide “dignified” living conditions for the more than 25,000 migrants trapped in Greece after other countries further north along the migration route to Western Europe imposed sweeping entry restrictions. | Speaking Thursday after a meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk in Athens, Tsipras promised to provide “dignified” living conditions for the more than 25,000 migrants trapped in Greece after other countries further north along the migration route to Western Europe imposed sweeping entry restrictions. |
| But he insisted that the solution can only be temporary and Greece will accept only its fair share of permanently resettled refugees. | But he insisted that the solution can only be temporary and Greece will accept only its fair share of permanently resettled refugees. |
| ___ | ___ |
| 12:25 p.m. | 12:25 p.m. |
| European Council President Donald Tusk is warning prospective economic migrants to not even think of setting off toward Europe. | European Council President Donald Tusk is warning prospective economic migrants to not even think of setting off toward Europe. |
| Tusk says people who are looking for a better life but are not fleeing war should not risk their lives or their money paying smugglers to bring them to Europe. | Tusk says people who are looking for a better life but are not fleeing war should not risk their lives or their money paying smugglers to bring them to Europe. |
| “It is all for nothing,” he said. “Greece, or any other European country, will no longer be a transit country.” | “It is all for nothing,” he said. “Greece, or any other European country, will no longer be a transit country.” |
| Tusk was in Athens as part of a tour through countries worst affected by the continent’s immigration crisis. Later Thursday, he was to visit Turkey, from where the vast majority of the roughly 1 million migrants who entered Greece over the past 14 months crossed over in smuggling boats. | Tusk was in Athens as part of a tour through countries worst affected by the continent’s immigration crisis. Later Thursday, he was to visit Turkey, from where the vast majority of the roughly 1 million migrants who entered Greece over the past 14 months crossed over in smuggling boats. |
| ___ | ___ |
| 10:35 a.m. | 10:35 a.m. |
| A group of migrants at Greece’s border with Macedonia have blocked a rail line in protest at Macedonia’s refusal to let them in to continue their route toward Western Europe. | A group of migrants at Greece’s border with Macedonia have blocked a rail line in protest at Macedonia’s refusal to let them in to continue their route toward Western Europe. |
| The group lay down on the Greek side of the train track Thursday morning, preventing a freight train that had just crossed from Macedonia from continuing its journey south. | The group lay down on the Greek side of the train track Thursday morning, preventing a freight train that had just crossed from Macedonia from continuing its journey south. |
| Some 10,000 people are blocked at the border. Macedonian authorities have said they will only let in as many people as the next country on the route, Serbia, takes. Greek police said that in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. Thursday, 500 people were allowed to cross. | Some 10,000 people are blocked at the border. Macedonian authorities have said they will only let in as many people as the next country on the route, Serbia, takes. Greek police said that in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. Thursday, 500 people were allowed to cross. |
| Some of those who were allowed into Macedonia were then sent back by authorities there because of problems with their papers. | Some of those who were allowed into Macedonia were then sent back by authorities there because of problems with their papers. |
| 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. |