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| Migrants Who Forded River to Reach Macedonia Are Returned to Greece | Migrants Who Forded River to Reach Macedonia Are Returned to Greece |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| SKOPJE, Macedonia — A day after they went around a border fence and crossed a river to Macedonia in a desperate effort to escape a tent city where they had been trapped for weeks, about 1,500 migrants were sent back to Greece on Tuesday. | SKOPJE, Macedonia — A day after they went around a border fence and crossed a river to Macedonia in a desperate effort to escape a tent city where they had been trapped for weeks, about 1,500 migrants were sent back to Greece on Tuesday. |
| The migrants had been gathered overnight by the Macedonian authorities in the village of Moin, near the border, and then returned to the Greek side. | The migrants had been gathered overnight by the Macedonian authorities in the village of Moin, near the border, and then returned to the Greek side. |
| Officials on both sides said that the migrants had been misled by unnamed people who had distributed leaflets in Arabic directing them to an unguarded point on the border about three miles west of the tent city, near the Greek village of Idomeni. | Officials on both sides said that the migrants had been misled by unnamed people who had distributed leaflets in Arabic directing them to an unguarded point on the border about three miles west of the tent city, near the Greek village of Idomeni. |
| Through that opening, hundreds of migrants poured across the border, fording the Suva Reka River. | Through that opening, hundreds of migrants poured across the border, fording the Suva Reka River. |
| Along with those who were turned back, 600 more migrants were stopped at the border, according to the Macedonian Interior Ministry. | Along with those who were turned back, 600 more migrants were stopped at the border, according to the Macedonian Interior Ministry. |
| “It is obvious that there are some smugglers and N.G.O.s that want to profit out of this whole situation,” Nikola Poposki, Macedonia’s foreign affairs minister, said in a televised interview, referring to nongovernmental organizations, including humanitarian groups, that have been helping the migrants. | “It is obvious that there are some smugglers and N.G.O.s that want to profit out of this whole situation,” Nikola Poposki, Macedonia’s foreign affairs minister, said in a televised interview, referring to nongovernmental organizations, including humanitarian groups, that have been helping the migrants. |
| He did not provide evidence for his assertion. | He did not provide evidence for his assertion. |
| The government also said it had detained and fined 72 foreign journalists “for illegally crossing the border,” and had sent them to Greece. | The government also said it had detained and fined 72 foreign journalists “for illegally crossing the border,” and had sent them to Greece. |
| Images and videos showing the migrants braving the fast-moving waters have circulated widely online, drawing attention to the widespread suffering that has accompanied Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II. | Images and videos showing the migrants braving the fast-moving waters have circulated widely online, drawing attention to the widespread suffering that has accompanied Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II. |
| On Thursday, European leaders will gather in Brussels in an effort to finalize a deal with Turkey to resolve the crisis, at least for now. Under that deal, Turkey will attempt to stop migrants from crossing the Aegean Sea to reach Greek islands, and it will receive financial aid and political concessions — including expanded visa-free travel to Europe for its citizens and renewed discussions on Turkey’s longstanding effort to join the European Union. | On Thursday, European leaders will gather in Brussels in an effort to finalize a deal with Turkey to resolve the crisis, at least for now. Under that deal, Turkey will attempt to stop migrants from crossing the Aegean Sea to reach Greek islands, and it will receive financial aid and political concessions — including expanded visa-free travel to Europe for its citizens and renewed discussions on Turkey’s longstanding effort to join the European Union. |
| Any unauthorized migrant arriving in Greece will be automatically sent to Turkey, and for each Syrian sent there, the European Union will resettle a Syrian refugee from Turkey. | Any unauthorized migrant arriving in Greece will be automatically sent to Turkey, and for each Syrian sent there, the European Union will resettle a Syrian refugee from Turkey. |
| When the deal with Turkey was announced last week, Macedonia — along with Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia, other countries along the Balkan corridor — sealed its border to most unauthorized migrants, ending a de facto practice of letting migrants pass en route to destinations that have been more welcoming, most notably Germany. | When the deal with Turkey was announced last week, Macedonia — along with Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia, other countries along the Balkan corridor — sealed its border to most unauthorized migrants, ending a de facto practice of letting migrants pass en route to destinations that have been more welcoming, most notably Germany. |
| An estimated 12,000 to 14,000 migrants have been stuck in increasingly desperate conditions — including an outbreak of hepatitis A — at a camp near Idomeni. | An estimated 12,000 to 14,000 migrants have been stuck in increasingly desperate conditions — including an outbreak of hepatitis A — at a camp near Idomeni. |
| Separately, more than 1,000 migrants have been stranded at a transit center in Tabanovce, in northern Macedonia, for several weeks. They were not among those sent back on Tuesday. | Separately, more than 1,000 migrants have been stranded at a transit center in Tabanovce, in northern Macedonia, for several weeks. They were not among those sent back on Tuesday. |
| “E.U. officials must quickly find a solution for these people currently stranded on the route and in Idomeni,” Jasmin Redzepi, president of Legis, a nonprofit that provides support to refugees and migrants, said on Tuesday. | “E.U. officials must quickly find a solution for these people currently stranded on the route and in Idomeni,” Jasmin Redzepi, president of Legis, a nonprofit that provides support to refugees and migrants, said on Tuesday. |
| “If there was a solution for thousands before, there has to be one for these remaining 12,000 to 15,000.” | “If there was a solution for thousands before, there has to be one for these remaining 12,000 to 15,000.” |
| Mr. Redzepi said the circumstances in which many of the migrants find themselves have left them vulnerable to abuse by smugglers. |