10,000 migrants blocked at Greece-Turkey border
Refugees flee along the Turkish-Greek border Sunday. Greece said it has blocked nearly 10,000 migrants at its Turkish border.
Greek officials Sunday announced police and soldiers have blocked nearly 10,000 refugees at its Turkish border, as tensions mount over Turkey’s deepening conflict in Syria.
The number of refugees along the rugged frontier increased after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would “open the doors to Europe” in a bid to pressure European Union countries over the conflict.
A total of 13,000 migrants have amassed at the Turkish-Greek border, including families with young children who spent the night in the cold, said an official from the International Organization for Migration.
The Greek government said the country will not relent.
“We are protecting the borders of Greece and Europe with a firm hand,” said Deputy Defense Minister Alkiviadis Stefanis.
Migrants continued trying to enter Greece by swimming across rivers or ducking under fences, while others dragged suitcases as they marched toward the border to join the masses already there, some wrapped in blankets or sleeping on dirt mounds.
Despite the country’s efforts to repel the crowds, several boats full of refugees arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos on Sunday.
Clashes erupted between police and migrants with police firing teargas at refugees who responded by throwing rocks.
Greek authorities said at least 139 refugees have been arrested since Friday.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU is carefully monitoring the situation and is willing to deploy its border-guard agency.
The EU’s commissioner for migration, Margaritis Schinas, requested an extraordinary meeting of EU interior ministers to discuss the situation.
The conflict is reminiscent of 2015, when more than a million refugees fled to Europe, mainly by way of Greece, in what became the continent’s worst refugee crisis since WWII.
