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Child dies off Lesbos in first fatality since Turkey opened border Child dies off Lesbos in first fatality since Turkey opened border
(about 3 hours later)
Four-year-old dies as crisis sparked by Turkey’s decision to open its borders continuesFour-year-old dies as crisis sparked by Turkey’s decision to open its borders continues
The first victim of the worsening crisis that has engulfed Greece following Turkey’s abrupt decision to open its borders to thousands of refugees desperate to reach Europe has been confirmed with the death of a child in waters off Lesbos. The first victim of the worsening crisis that has engulfed Greece since Turkey’s abrupt decision to open its borders to thousands of refugees desperate to reach Europe has been confirmed with the death of a child in waters off Lesbos.
Authorities said a four-year-old Syria boy died early on Monday when an inflatable dinghy carrying people from the Turkish coast capsized off the island. “Doctors rushed to save the child but it was too late,” a police source on Lesbos said. As Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, warned that millions of people would soon be heading westwards, Greek authorities announced that a four-year-old Syrian boy had died when a dingy carrying 48 men, women and children capsized off the island.
“As is customary, the boat was deliberately sunk so that people inside would be rescued and allowed to come ashore and that, we believe, is when the tragedy happened.” “Doctors rushed to save the child but it was too late,” said a police source on Lesbos, adding that the inflatable had been deliberately slashed as it approached the isle so as to trigger a rescue operation.
The death came as Greek government sources confirmed that border forces had thwarted 9,877 people trying to cross the country’s borders overnight. At least 1,000 people have managed to circumvent a flotilla of naval vessels and coastguard patrol boats to reach Greece’s eastern Aegean islands since Sunday morning. The fatality underscored the dangerously escalating tensions between the two Nato neighbours and regional rivals.
Reports have been rife of people being transferred to the borders en masse by Turkish authorities in buses and military vehicles. It came as Greece continued to reinforce its borders, rushing elite forces, more soldiers and extra guards to its eastern Aegean islands and the land frontier it shares with Turkey.
Athens’ centre-right government announced it was ratcheting up its frontier defences to the highest possible level late on Sunday, saying the EU member state was facing “an asymmetric threat” to its security. Earlier in the day police used teargas and stun grenades to thwart hundreds trying to cross into the country, either by traversing the fast-flowing Evros river that divides the two nations or through frontier fences along the north eastern border.
As of Monday both the army and border patrol forces had been placed on maximum alert with the military engaging in exercises using live ammunition along the Evros land frontier abutting Turkey and as far as Lesbos, according to the defence ministry. The exercises were interpreted as a covert effort to deter people from making the journey to Greece.
The crisis marks the worst deterioration in ties between the EU and Ankara since both struck a landmark accord to curb migratory flows in March 2016. In exchange for €6bn (£5.2bn) in EU funds, Turkey agreed to host millions of displaced Syrians at the height of its civil war.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, says he was prompted to “open the gates” to Europe by relaxing border controls partly because Brussels had failed “to keep its promise” and provide funds for the 3.7 million Syrian refugees currently residing in the country.
Amid mounting international alarm, the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said he would visit the Evros region on Tuesday with top EU officials, including the EU commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, and president of the European council, Charles Michel.Amid mounting international alarm, the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said he would visit the Evros region on Tuesday with top EU officials, including the EU commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, and president of the European council, Charles Michel.
The trip is expected to be a show of solidarity for the embattled member state.The trip is expected to be a show of solidarity for the embattled member state.
European Union ambassadors held an emergency meeting on Monday afternoon to discuss the escalating situation at the Greek-Turkish border, after several thousand people gathered at crossing points over the weekend. With senior figures in the ruling centre-right administration describing the attempts to breach the country’s borders as an “invasion” orchestrated at the highest levels of government in Turkey, Athens is leaning on Brussels for more support.
“The borders of Greece are the external borders of Europe,” Mitsotakis tweeted late Sunday after chairing an emergency meeting of the country’s national security council. EU home affairs ministers will also meet in extraordinary session on Wednesday to discuss the increasingly dramatic situation.
“The borders of Greece are the external borders of Europe,” Mitsotakis tweeted late on Sunday after chairing an emergency meeting of the country’s national security council.
Greek officials announced that Athens had submitted a request to Frontex, the EU border agency, to mobilise its rapid border intervention force to assist in reinforcing the bloc’s external frontiers. Coastguard vessels manned by agency personnel and border guards were expected to arrive in the coming days.Greek officials announced that Athens had submitted a request to Frontex, the EU border agency, to mobilise its rapid border intervention force to assist in reinforcing the bloc’s external frontiers. Coastguard vessels manned by agency personnel and border guards were expected to arrive in the coming days.
The administration said it would also be suspending asylum applications “for one month” – a move that may have been the cause of diminishing numbers remaining at the land border on Monday. Mitsotakis announced that Greece would also be suspending asylum applications “for one month” – a move that may have been the cause of diminishing numbers remaining at the land border.
In an implicit rebuke to Athens, the UN’s refugee agency said there was no legal basis for the suspension of asylum decisions in either the 1951 UN refugee convention or EU law. Greek officials said 4,354 people had been stopped illicitly entering the country over a 12-hour period beginning at 6am on Monday.
“Persons entering irregularly on the territory of a state should also not be punished if they present themselves without delay to the authorities to seek asylum,” the UNHCR said. But despite the unprecedented display of military muscle, at least 1,000 people succeeded in circumventing a flotilla of naval vessels and coastguard boats to reach Lesbos and other Aegean islands.
Campaigners at Oxfam said the Greek decision was gravely concerning. “It is reminiscent of the disastrous lack of leadership in 2015-16 when no government in Europe wanted to take responsibility for people in need,” said Oxfam’s migration campaign manager Evelien van Roemburg. It is now believed that as many as 150,000 people have amassed along Turkey’s coast in the hope of crossing over to Greece’s outlying isles.
Athens has accused Ankara of deliberately “encouraging” the mass movement of thousands of people towards Greece in what it has described as an open violation of the 2016 agreement it reached with the EU. With Athens saying the country is facing “an asymmetric threat” to its security, military forces also began engaging in live fire exercises in Evros and other border regions. The exercises were interpreted as a covert effort to deter men, women and children from making the journey to Greece.
“Instead of restricting rings that traffic in migrants and refugees, Turkey herself has become a trafficker,” the Greek government spokesman, Stelios Petsas, told reporters following the emergency security council meeting. “These people are being used as pawns by Turkey to exercise diplomatic pressure.” The crisis marks the worst deterioration in ties between the EU and Ankara since they struck a landmark accord in March 2016, in which Turkey agreed to host millions of displaced Syrians in exchange for €6bn in EU funds.
In further sign of the war of nerves between the neighbouring Nato states, Athens described a video reportedly depicting a fatality on the Greek-Turkish land border as “fake news”. “We call upon everyone to use caution when reporting news that furthers Turkish propaganda,” Petsas said. On Monday Erdoğan repeated that he had been spurred to “open the gates” because Europe had reneged on its promise to provide funds and assistance for the 3.7 million Syrian refugees currently residing in Turkey.
“I told them, ‘It’s done. It’s finished. The doors are now open. Now, you will have to take your share of the burden,’” he told an audience in Ankara. “Since we have opened the borders, the number of refugees heading toward Europe has reached hundreds of thousands. This number will soon be in the millions.”
Athens has accused Ankara of deliberately encouraging the mass movement of thousands of people towards Greece in what it has described as an open violation of the 2016 agreement it reached with the EU.
“Instead of restricting rings that traffic in migrants and refugees, Turkey herself has become a trafficker,” the Greek government spokesman, Stelios Petsas, told reporters after the emergency security council meeting. “These people are being used as pawns by Turkey to exercise diplomatic pressure.”
The emergency measures came after Greek security forces announced that a “titanic battle” was being waged to protect the nation’s borders.The emergency measures came after Greek security forces announced that a “titanic battle” was being waged to protect the nation’s borders.
On Greece’s eastern Aegean isles, which have experienced a big rise in the number of refugees and migrants arriving in recent months, a 52-strong flotilla of gunships and coastguard vessels has been seconded to protect them. On Greece’s eastern Aegean islands, which have experienced a big rise in the number of refugees and migrants arriving in recent months, a 52-strong flotilla of gunships and coastguard vessels has been seconded to protect them.
“Our borders are under huge pressure and, yes, they are big,” said Panayiotis Harelas, who heads the Panhellenic Federation of border guards union. “But our determination to defend them is bigger.” “Our borders are under huge pressure and, yes, they are big,” said Panayiotis Harelas, who heads the Panhellenic federation of border guards union. “But our determination to defend them is bigger.”
EU foreign ministers will have an emergency meeting in Zagreb on Friday to discuss the Syrian regime’s assault on Idlib, the last rebel-held area in Syria, which could leave to a new wave of refugees. A commission spokesman said the logic of the meeting was to find ways of reinforcing the message that “there can only be a political solution [in Syria] ideally under the umbrella of the UN”.
“The situation in Idlib is unbearable for the civilians there, they are exposed to indiscriminate bombings and military campaign by the regime and its backers, but also they are caught in between the confrontations between the regime its backers but also other forces present in north west Syria.”
Additional reporting by Jennifer Rankin in BrusselsAdditional reporting by Jennifer Rankin in Brussels