Easing some of the strain faced by Greece, authorities said Friday that more than 2,000 refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq had crossed the border into FYROM one day after the border closed because of clashes between migrants.
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More than 5,000 people of various nationalities are now located in the border area near Idomeni in Greece – a country “under European pressure to limit the inflow of migrants arriving to Greek islands from Turkey”.
The agreement with Frontex will see the border agency provide personnel to help register refugees and migrants at Greece’s border with FYROM, where some 6,000 people have now amassed as a result of Skopje refusing to allow anyone except Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans, who can qualify as refugees, through.
Protests have swelled among desperate migrants stranded for days in squalid tent camps on the border near the Greek town of Idomeni in temperatures barely above freezing.
Athens’ acceptance of help from EU border agency Frontex and European aid to care for migrants was welcomed by the bloc ahead of the meeting.
“We’ve been able to get rid of all the problems”, he said of coordination between Greece and Frontex on the Macedonian border.
A woman refugee cries in desperation in the arms of a family member during a protest on the Greek – FYROM border.
In a separate request, Greece invoked EU provisions normally used for natural disasters, calling for European assistance in providing food, shelter and medical care for refugees, the EU said.
Greece has been overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of Syrians and other refugees who have reached the country’s shores this year.
A suspension, which would mean travelers from Greece would pass through passport control on arrival in other Schengen countries, would have little practical effect on the migrant flow as Greece does not share any borders with other Schengen nations.
The Greek Police repatriated 1,604 migrants in November.
With a string of EU countries tightened frontier controls in the face of the unprecedented human influx, the cherished principle of free movement across borders – a pillar of the European project – seemed in grave jeopardy.
Diplomats and European Union officials say some governments have raised the possibility informally but it would be a largely symbolic move, with little impact on migration.
He said work was moving ahead on building migrant screening centers on Greece’s Aegean Sea islands.
Greek Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas said the government planned to resolve the situation at the border within the next 10 days.
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“I think it was constructive and we made progress”, he said, condemning those who spoke of barring Greece, or of a “mini-Schengen” in the north, for destroying the “spirit” of Europe.
