Earlier in the day, a large group of refugees making their way through Greece under police supervision was met by Macedonia’s law enforcement personnel at the state border. Bad weather returned after a brief pause and conditions in the refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian where about 14,000 people are stranded have further deteriorated, many of its residents struggling struggling to cope with the many challenges posed by the heavy rain.
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“The police have managed to detect refugees [in Macedonia], who, along with the journalists accompanying them, will be returned to the Greek territory”.
Separately, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there is no question that Germany has benefited from the closure of the Balkan migrant route north into Europe.
The news comes as the Dutch government says that one in every four asylum-seekers arriving in its country have come from a country considered “safe”.
Monday’s events were the biggest challenge to border closures since the route from Greece to central Europe was sealed off 10 days ago, leaving more than 40,000 people stranded in Greece – and it came days before European Union leaders try to hammer out a deal with Turkey to try and hold more refugees there. Another 19 were placed in a shelter and three were hospitalized after crossing the river in a separate incident.
She told the AP that border closures are forcing migrants to resort to “desperate actions”.
According the UNHCR, more than 8,500 refugees and migrants crossed the Aegean last week, putting an even greater burden on Greece.
The Immigration and Naturalisation Service says that a quarter of the 4,400 requests for asylum this year have come from countries such as Albania, Serbia and Kosovo.
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As the Netherlands seeks ways to cope with the influx, migrants from safe countries are now being rejected faster and are no longer allowed to await decisions on appeals in this country and have to immediately leave.
