The comments came after images circulated in media showed a number of Iranian refugees sewing their lips in protest at being blocked at the Greece-Macedonia border on November 23, ostensibly after days of being stranded at the border crossing.
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Over 200 migrants on Thursday tried to break through barbed wire fences to cross from Greece into Macedonia, which imposed new border restrictions last week, throwing stones at police, AFP reporters said. Only those fleeing armed conflict in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq are allowed to cross as they are typically being granted asylum in the EU. But there were signs on Tuesday that the tide was starting to ebb somewhat – although relief officials cautioned that it was too early to declare a trend.
Immigration officials estimate Norway can expect more than 33,000 refugees this year, a threefold increase over 2014. The weather is getting colder on a daily basis.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – The latest on the mass movement of asylum-seekers and others seeking refuge in Europe.
Struggling to cope with the high numbers of new arrivals, many Balkan countries relaxed transit rules over the summer as migrants headed to Germany and other countries northern Europe.
Asylum seekers are protesting new border restrictions put in place by several Balkan nations which the UN says are illegal.
Some 800 people are stuck on the border, mostly Iranians, Moroccans, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis.
The U.N. chief called on all countries in the region “to respond with compassion, solidarity and shared responsibility” to the mounting humanitarian challenge – and to ensure that their policies on screening asylum seekers adhere to worldwide refugee and human rights law, his spokesman said Tuesday.
He said it is the terrorists from the Islamic State group who have to be combated, not the refugees. “Although we do note a sharp decrease, we’re wondering if it’s going to start ticking up again”, he said. “We don’t believe that this many days have gone by without an arrival in nearly two years, so that’s kind of significant”.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is due in Brussels on Sunday for a summit with EU leaders meant to seal a joint action plan under which European countries will provide 3 billion euros in aid to help keep refugees in Turkey.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country has borne the brunt of hundreds of thousands of migrants who have poured into Europe from the Middle East and Africa this year, said the open border system would only endure if European Union member states accepted a permanent, mandatory quota system for sharing out refugees.
