Refugees Sew Mouths Shut In Protest At European Border Crossing

About 1,300 migrants gathered in the Greek town Idomeni protested Saturday against the decision by Macedonian authorities across the border to turn away migrants who are not from war zones such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

A group of refugees stuck at the border between Greece and Macedonia for the past four days have sewn their mouths shut in protest.

A man sews shut the mouth of a migrant or refugee who claimed to be from Iran as migrants and refugees wait to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near Gevgelija on November 23, 2015.

Photos showed another group of Bangladesh men at the protest, who had stripped to the waist and written slogans, including “shoot us, we never go back”, on their chests in red paint. I can not go back.

He told reporters Monday that some of those seeking asylum in Austria are only “so-called refugees”, suggesting they have no reason to seek the safe haven reserved for those fleeing war and persecution.

“I can not go back”, he said.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing conflict and poverty have travelled to Greece and up through the Balkans this year, aiming to start new lives in more prosperous northern European countries.

Both men were rescued by the Greek coast guard while travelling from nearby Turkey on a boat carrying almost 200 migrants and refugees that sank before reaching Greece.

Aid agencies have warned that those denied passage and the right to seek asylum risk being left in limbo without sufficient aid against the winter.

“To classify a whole nation as economic migrants is not a principle recognised in global law”, said Rados Djurovic, director of the Belgrade-based Asylum Protection Centre. “We are facing a lack of material, human and technical capacities in responding to the threats and risks on national security”, stressed Ivanov.

People from other countries were considered “economic migrants”, and therefore would not be allowed passage.

Around 2,900 people crossed into Macedonia in the 24 hours before 0600 (local time) on Monday, down from more than 6,000 on the previous day, the news agency quoted local police as saying.