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| Europe |
| Migrant Mulishnesses |
| 2016-03-28 |
| Report: Turkey Nabs 350 Migrants Heading to Greece [AnNahar] The Turkish coastguard on Sunday stopped five boats carrying dozens of illegal migrants, mostly from Myanmar, who were trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos, local media reported. A coastguard vessel spotted the boats about four miles off the shore of Dikili town in Izmir province as they tried to reach Lesbos, the private Dogan news agency reported. The coastguard stopped the boats and took the migrants back to shore where they were handed over to the police. Most of them were from Myanmar. "There is a planned massacre against Muslims in the country we live," one of the migrants told Dogan, saying the combination of danger and poverty had forced them to leave. His remarks suggested they were members of Myanmar's Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority which has been targeted by violent attacks and state-sanctioned discrimination in the Buddhist-majority state, earning them a reputation as one of the world's most persecuted peoples. The numbers of people reaching Greece from Turkey have declined since an EU-Turkey deal went into effect on March 20 under which all migrants landing on the Greek islands face are sent back. Before the deal, the numbers arriving each day had numbered in the thousands. On Monday, 1,662 people arrived, but this fell to 600 on Tuesday and 260 on Wednesday. Migrants Flood to Greek Camp after Rumors Border Will Be Forced Open [AnNahar] Hopeful refugees flooded back Sunday to Greece's overwhelmed Idomeni migrant camp on the border with Macedonia, creating confusion, after rumors that the closed frontier would be forced open. The influx came as Greek authorities were trying to evacuate the estimated 11,600 people stranded in the squalid camp after Balkan states slammed shut the migrants' route into the European Union. Dozens of hopeful refugees gathered on railway tracks at Idomeni and at the fence on the frontier, singing and waiting for others like them to arrive, as Greek police in riot gear stood guard. A young Syrian refugee told the Athens News Agency that the rumor doing the rounds was that international journalists and Red Cross officials would help them force their way across the fence into Macedonia. "We heard today that the border will open and we came here to cross the border," he said. "They told us that Red Cross and 500 journalists from all over the world will be with us," he said, without specifying the source. Another young Syrian refugee said his sister, who is living in Germany, read the same claim on the Internet and alerted him. Migrants protest to be let through Greek-Macedonian border [AlAhram] Hundreds of migrants stranded at a makeshift Greek camp protested near the border with Macedonia on Sunday, demanding that the border be opened as they clung to hopes of making it into Europe despite new EU moves to send some refugees back. Around 50,000 migrants and refugees remain trapped in Greece after a domino of border closures by countries along the Balkan route has prevented them from continuing their journey into wealthier European countries. Many live in squalid conditions in tents near the town of Idomeni at the border with Macedonia. Some 400 protesters gathered at the camp on Sunday, waving white napkins and holding signs that read "open the border". A man with a megaphone led them singing folk songs in Arabic. Greek police formed a line to prevent the protesters from moving to the fence that separates the camp from Macedonia. "We're here today, and everyday, because we won't give up. We protest here everyday for the sake of women and children," said a Syrian woman, Hana. "We are humans and we have rights, this is why we are here today and we will keep protesting until the borders open." |
| Posted by:trailing wife |