European nations shut their borders to economic migrants

That may permit migrants to bypass the official registration process, & buy ferry tickets for Piraeus with out being screened by authorities on Lesbos – where most migrants crossing to Greece from Turkey arrive.—11:50 a.m. Tempers have flared at Greece’s main border crossing with Macedonia, where riot cops officers pushed back hundreds of migrants jostling to cross over, after Macedonia blocked access to people deemed to be economic migrants and never refugees.

UNHCR’s Sunjic said that what the four countries are doing – selecting migrants on the basis of their nationality – does not square with worldwide rules on applying for refugee status.

“This challenge will not be met by sealing borders, building fences or taking a strict security approach to the movement of refugees or migrants”, he said.

The partial closure of the borders could trigger huge pileups of desperate people along the Balkan corridor.

Oxfam’s migration policy lead, Sara Tesorieri, said: “As of 20 November, several countries along the Balkans route – Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia – are only allowing people from Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq to cross their borders”.

Instead of collective discrimination at borders, European Union member states Slovenia and Croatia and candidate countries Serbia and Macedonia should coordinate to ensure that everyone can present their asylum claims and that people are not trapped at borders amid worsening weather.

“We have to protect our country. United Nations refugee agency”, Richard said when asked about USA border security assistance in Europe.

But officials in Balkan countries at the heart of the migrant route said Thursday they were restricting the crossings of economic migrants and allowing in only those fleeing conflict. To cross, asylum-seekers needed to display identity documents to prove that they are from Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq — which many of them could not, even if they did come from those states.

Greek authorities say migrants of other nationalities such as Morocco, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Liberia, Congo and Pakistan, are now gathered on the Greek side of the border, blocking it completely. A further 2,500 people are waiting in a camp set up nearby to provide shelter for those heading north through the Balkans. Croatia, on its border with Serbia, is only accepting people from those three countries plus Palestine, she said. Although Syrians fleeing civil war are the biggest group among the asylum-seekers, tens of thousands of people escaping poverty have also joined the surge.

“Over the past days more and more people that we have reason to believe are economic migrants have been arriving”, a Slovenian police spokesperson told Reuters, adding his country would only take in migrants “from countries where there are armed battles”.

“These foreigners do not qualify for global protection”, said Slovenian police spokesman Drago Menegalia.

Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia are all now trying to stop so-called economic migrants from continuing towards Austria and Germany along with Syrians, Iraqi and Afghans, who have the best chance of receiving refugee status in the EU. Authorities in Greece, Serbia and Croatia say a migrant presented the passport while traveling through their nations last month, and that the man’s fingerprints match those of the dead bomber.