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| Greek police remove people from border with Macedonia | Greek police remove people from border with Macedonia |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Greek police have started removing people from the country’s border with Macedonia after a snap decision to tighten border controls by the Balkan state left thousands stranded. | Greek police have started removing people from the country’s border with Macedonia after a snap decision to tighten border controls by the Balkan state left thousands stranded. |
| Authorities said the mostly Afghan migrants and refugees were being put on buses bound for Athens, in the south of the country, where they will be temporarily housed in relocation camps. | |
| Police and empty buses had entered the Idomeni area before dawn. In one area seen from the Macedonian side of the border, about 600 people had been surrounded by Greek police, a witness told Reuters. | Police and empty buses had entered the Idomeni area before dawn. In one area seen from the Macedonian side of the border, about 600 people had been surrounded by Greek police, a witness told Reuters. |
| About 4,000 people were stranded on the frontier on Tuesday as the crossing of Syrians and Iraqis – who are allowed to pass – slowed considerably, Greek police said. | |
| On Monday Greece made frantic appeals to Macedonia to open its frontier. By midday up to 10,000 men, women and children had been trapped in Greece, with most marooned in the north. Another 4,000 people, newly arrived from islands off Turkey’s Aegean coast, were stuck in Athens’s port of Piraeus. | |
| On Tuesday morning a further 1,250 people arrived in Athens from three Greek islands. Some of them had bus tickets to Idomeni, but it was unclear if they would be permitted to travel north from Athens. | On Tuesday morning a further 1,250 people arrived in Athens from three Greek islands. Some of them had bus tickets to Idomeni, but it was unclear if they would be permitted to travel north from Athens. |
| The backlog came after Macedonia refused entry to Afghan refugees, claiming it was reacting to a similar move by Serbia. | The backlog came after Macedonia refused entry to Afghan refugees, claiming it was reacting to a similar move by Serbia. |
| Amid rising tension and fears of the collapse of the passport-free Schengen zone, Greece lambasted the policies being pursued by countries to its north. | |
| Speaking on state-run ERT television, the Greek migration minister, Yiannis Mouzalas, said: “Once again the European Union voted for something, it reached an agreement, but a number of countries lacking the culture of the European Union, including Austria, unfortunately violated this deal barely 10 hours after it had been reached.” | Speaking on state-run ERT television, the Greek migration minister, Yiannis Mouzalas, said: “Once again the European Union voted for something, it reached an agreement, but a number of countries lacking the culture of the European Union, including Austria, unfortunately violated this deal barely 10 hours after it had been reached.” |
| Neighbouring countries along the Balkan corridor had in turn become enmeshed in “an outburst of scaremongering”. | Neighbouring countries along the Balkan corridor had in turn become enmeshed in “an outburst of scaremongering”. |
| “The Visegrád countries have not only not accepted even one refugee; they have not sent even a blanket for a refugee,” he added, referring to the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. “Or a policeman to reinforce [EU border agency] Frontex.” | “The Visegrád countries have not only not accepted even one refugee; they have not sent even a blanket for a refugee,” he added, referring to the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. “Or a policeman to reinforce [EU border agency] Frontex.” |
| Skopje said on Monday it had tightened restrictions after Austria imposed a cap on transit and asylum applications, triggering a domino effect down the migrant trail. | Skopje said on Monday it had tightened restrictions after Austria imposed a cap on transit and asylum applications, triggering a domino effect down the migrant trail. |
| As officials scrambled to find accommodation for the newcomers, Athens’s leftist-led government was engaged in desperate diplomatic efforts to ease the border controls. | As officials scrambled to find accommodation for the newcomers, Athens’s leftist-led government was engaged in desperate diplomatic efforts to ease the border controls. |
| Greece’s foreign ministry said a formal protest had been filed with Austria over its decision to call a meeting of Balkan states on the migrant crisis without including Greece. The move was a “unilateral and non-friendly act” towards Greece on a matter in which Athens had a direct interest, the ministry said. | |
| Vienna has invited Balkan states to a meeting on the migration crisis on Wednesday, following the country’s move to limit asylum applicants last week. | |
| The International Organisation for Migration said on Tuesday that more than 100,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Greece and Italy already this year. They include at least 97,325 landing on Greek islands and 7,507 in Italy, the IOM said in a statement issued in Geneva. | |
| “Over 410 migrants and refugees have also lost their lives during the same period, with the eastern Mediterranean route between Turkey and Greece continuing to be the deadliest, accounting for 321 deaths,” the IOM said. | |
| Greece has become Europe’s main entry point for the vast numbers fleeing war and destitution in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Last year, more than 800,000 people – the majority from Syria – passed through Greece en route to Germany and other more prosperous EU member states. | |
| With the pace of arrivals showing no sign of abating – a record 11,000 people were registered on Aegean islands in the space of three days last week – Athens has been in a race against the clock to improve hosting facilities including “hot spot” screening centres and camps. | With the pace of arrivals showing no sign of abating – a record 11,000 people were registered on Aegean islands in the space of three days last week – Athens has been in a race against the clock to improve hosting facilities including “hot spot” screening centres and camps. |
| Related: More women and children than men seeking European asylum, says Unicef | Related: More women and children than men seeking European asylum, says Unicef |
| Mounting questions over Turkey’s desire to stem the flow, and Greece’s ability to handle it, have fuelled fears that if nations take unilateral action to seal frontiers, hundreds of thousands will end up trapped in Europe’s most chaotic state. Battling its worst economic crisis in modern times, Athens is ill-equipped to deal with the emergency. | Mounting questions over Turkey’s desire to stem the flow, and Greece’s ability to handle it, have fuelled fears that if nations take unilateral action to seal frontiers, hundreds of thousands will end up trapped in Europe’s most chaotic state. Battling its worst economic crisis in modern times, Athens is ill-equipped to deal with the emergency. |
| Highlighting the gravity of the situation, the European parliament president, Martin Schulz, warned earlier on Monday that Greece was in danger of becoming a “parking lot” for stranded refugees if a scheme to resettle thousands from Greece and Italy was not put into immediate effect. Under the plan – viscerally opposed by the Visegrád countries – a mere 200 have been relocated. | Highlighting the gravity of the situation, the European parliament president, Martin Schulz, warned earlier on Monday that Greece was in danger of becoming a “parking lot” for stranded refugees if a scheme to resettle thousands from Greece and Italy was not put into immediate effect. Under the plan – viscerally opposed by the Visegrád countries – a mere 200 have been relocated. |
| With Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, under growing fire for her open door refugee policy in the wake of more than a million asylum seekers arriving last year, Berlin’s interior minister also warned that time was running out if the Schengen accord was to remain intact. | With Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, under growing fire for her open door refugee policy in the wake of more than a million asylum seekers arriving last year, Berlin’s interior minister also warned that time was running out if the Schengen accord was to remain intact. |
| Announcing the EU had two weeks to agree on a common policy, Thomas de Maizière, Germany’s interior minister, said Turkey had to deliver on its promise to stem the influx or Schengen controls would “move borders”. | Announcing the EU had two weeks to agree on a common policy, Thomas de Maizière, Germany’s interior minister, said Turkey had to deliver on its promise to stem the influx or Schengen controls would “move borders”. |