Macedonia to allow ‘vulnerable’ migrants to cross border

Macedonian police have fired tear gas at refugees trying to enter from Greece after a night spent stranded in no-man’s land by an emergency decree effectively sealing the Macedonian frontier.

The announcement came after Macedonia declared a state of emergency and closed its border with Greece because of large numbers of migrants trying to cross.

On Wednesday, Macedonia warned that it is running out of trains to transport refugees heading toward the EU and called on its neighbours to help combat the “alarming situation”. Most, over 31,000, are Syrians.

Cazeneuve, too, argued that “the issue goes beyond Calais and even beyond the frame of our bilateral cooperation”, stressing the importance of cooperation with the countries from which migrants were arriving.

Macedonia is just the latest hot spot in a continent-wide migrant crisis that, in some ways, is starting to resemble a war.

According to BBC News, “Macedonian authorities are responding as if they were dealing with rioters rather than refugees who have fled conflict and persecution”, Amnesty global Deputy Europe Director Gauri van Gulik said. Although they have the chance to apply for asylum in these countries, majority decide to continue towards central and western Europe.

Meanwhile, the Macedonian army deployed troops in the two border regions near Greece and Serbia to stand guard and build fences. “We can’t believe that we are here from this morning”, said Ahmet Husa of Syria.

Slovakia has been helping with the “humanitarian transfer” of migrants to other countries since 2008, he said.

Refugees here say they only want to pass through Macedonia – most are hoping to eventually reach Germany or Sweden.

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said in a statement that it is “particularly anxious about the thousands of vulnerable refugees and migrants, especially women and children, now massed on the Greek side of the border amid deteriorating conditions”.

A Greek government-chartered ferry carrying about 2,200 mainly Syrian refugees from Lesbos – which sees the highest number of arrivals in Greece – reached Athens later Friday, the coast guard said.

Macedonia was turned into a major transit route for foreign immigrants, where over 40 thousand Syrian immigrants have passed through its borders in the recent months. This is far from enough, since the calculations presented by the Macedonian Ministry of the Interior show that positioning more police at the border is costing the country at least 800,000 euros every month.