According to the BBC, the protests stem from a decision by Balkan countries to let in refugees only from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, a move that came in the wake of the Paris terror attacks earlier this month.
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At the borders between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia, nationals of Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq are being allowed to cross.
Asked by Reuters where he wanted to go, the man, a 34-year-old electrical engineer named Hamid, said: “To any free country in the world”.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR estimates that more than four million Syrians have fled the civil war that has ravaged their country and reportedly killed more than 250,000 people. They protest alongside numerous others-from Morocco, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other countries-who are stranded in the Greek village of Idomeni.
Macedonia will take all necessary measures and use all the resources to protect its border and to prevent any unchecked crossings of the border by migrants, who will be redirected towards points where they can be registered. If we go back, we’ll be put in prison for two years. The announcement caused a chain reaction back along the migration route as Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia, anticipating a backlog forming in their territories, swiftly closed their own borders.
Hundreds of thousands of migrants, many of them Syrians fleeing war, have made the perilous journey through the Balkans after arriving in Europe by boat in Greece from Turkey.
Guanziroli said the camp’s tent capacity was increased to shelter 2,500 people, up from 1,500 last Wednesday, but many continue to sleep outside on cardboard boxes as new bus loads of people arrive at all hours. Eastern European leaders say it’s an issue of economics, while others say the anti-migrant rhetoric it’s fueled by Islamophobia.
Crowds of Iranians and Moroccans, as well as Bangladeshi migrants have blocked the railway line on the country’s border with Greece.
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“Profiling asylum seekers on the basis of their alleged nationality infringes the human right of all people to seek asylum, irrespective of their nationality, and to have their individual cases heard”, Ban said in a press statement. They receive little to no information about where they will go next, and many are choosing to wait in Idomeni to see if the border will reopen anytime soon.
