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| The Latest: Greek police keep protesters away from border | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| ORESTIADA, Greece — The latest developments in Europe’s immigration crisis (all times local): | ORESTIADA, Greece — The latest developments in Europe’s immigration crisis (all times local): |
| 2:50 p.m. | |
| Police in northern Greece have blocked protesters from reaching a border post on the Greek-Turkish frontier. | |
| Riot police set up the blockade in the border village of Kastanies, where several hundred activists burned a European Union flag and chanted “open the borders.” | |
| The demonstrators from Athens and elsewhere in Greece are rallying for a second day in the border region, in the wake of more migrant deaths in the eastern Aegean Sea. | |
| They are demanding that Greece ease transit restrictions at the border, where access is blocked by a 10.5-kilometer (6 1/2-mile) fence. | |
| Protest organizer Petros Constantinou said: “We have every right to go to the border post and demonstrate. We have given authorities ample notification.” | |
| ___ | |
| 2:00 p.m. | 2:00 p.m. |
| Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner says the country’s newly introduced cap on the number of refugees allowed into the country will likely be reached in a few months. | Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner says the country’s newly introduced cap on the number of refugees allowed into the country will likely be reached in a few months. |
| Mikl-Leitner has told German weekly Welt am Sonntag that the maximum number of 37,500 refugees would probably be reached before the summer. | Mikl-Leitner has told German weekly Welt am Sonntag that the maximum number of 37,500 refugees would probably be reached before the summer. |
| The Austrian minister said Sunday that once the cap had been reached the country would either refuse to accept further asylum application or reject refugees on the border. | The Austrian minister said Sunday that once the cap had been reached the country would either refuse to accept further asylum application or reject refugees on the border. |
| More than 1 million people from countries like Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan entered Europe last year in the biggest migration to the continent since World War II. They mostly went to Germany and other wealthy EU nations. | More than 1 million people from countries like Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan entered Europe last year in the biggest migration to the continent since World War II. They mostly went to Germany and other wealthy EU nations. |
| ___ | ___ |
| 1:50 p.m. | 1:50 p.m. |
| Demonstrators have gathered for a second day near Greece’s border with Turkey, calling on the government to grant safe passage to refugees at the frontier. | Demonstrators have gathered for a second day near Greece’s border with Turkey, calling on the government to grant safe passage to refugees at the frontier. |
| Several hundred protesters traveled to the border town of Orestiada, near a 10.5-kilometer (6 1/2-mile) border fence. | Several hundred protesters traveled to the border town of Orestiada, near a 10.5-kilometer (6 1/2-mile) border fence. |
| Human rights groups and local activists say the fence and police patrols along Greece’s 200-kilometer border are forcing asylum-seekers from Syria and other conflict areas, to pay hefty sums to smugglers and risk their lives to reach Europe by sea. | Human rights groups and local activists say the fence and police patrols along Greece’s 200-kilometer border are forcing asylum-seekers from Syria and other conflict areas, to pay hefty sums to smugglers and risk their lives to reach Europe by sea. |
| Two migrant boats sunk in the eastern Aegean Sea earlier this week, killing at least 46 people, including more than a dozen children. | Two migrant boats sunk in the eastern Aegean Sea earlier this week, killing at least 46 people, including more than a dozen children. |
| The protesters chanting “Pull down the fence. Open the borders,” are planning to travel in a bus convoy to the edge of a military area that includes the border fence, and onto a nearby border crossing point. | The protesters chanting “Pull down the fence. Open the borders,” are planning to travel in a bus convoy to the edge of a military area that includes the border fence, and onto a nearby border crossing point. |
| 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. |